Israeli PM postpones Azerbaijan visit due to ‘developments in Gaza, Syria’

Jerusalem, May 4 (IANS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed his planned visit to Azerbaijan, said a statement from his office.

Netanyahu’s visit was scheduled to begin on Wednesday and last five days, Xinhua news agency reported.

“In light of developments in the Gaza Strip and Syria, and due to a tight political and security schedule, Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to postpone his visit to Azerbaijan to a later date,” the statement said on Saturday.

“The Prime Minister thanks President (Ilham) Aliyev for his invitation, and appreciates the warm relations between the two countries.”

However, Israeli news website Walla and other Israeli media outlets reported that the reason for the cancellation was Turkey’s refusal to allow Netanyahu’s plane to fly over its territory en route to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

Citing sources close to Netanyahu, the website said that his office had examined the possibility of flying via alternative flight routes. However, that would have almost doubled the flight duration, and it was decided to cancel the flight.

According to the report, the Prime Minister’s Office examined the possibility of travelling to Baku on an alternate flight route, namely over Greece and Bulgaria, but decided against doing so as the flight time would almost double.

This would not mark the first time that Turkey’s increasingly sour relations with Israel have reportedly interrupted senior officials’ travel plans.

In November 2024, President Isaac Herzog canceled his planned visit to the United Nations COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan at the last minute, citing “security considerations” as the reason.

Reports at the time suggested, however, that the real reason for the cancellation was because Turkey had refused to allow Israeli President to fly through its airspace.

Direct flight routes from Israel to Azerbaijan are limited, as most require flying over Turkey, or alternatively, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, relations between Israel and Turkey have deteriorated, resulting in the recall of ambassadors and the severance of trade relations.

Israel’s security cabinet is slated to convene on Sunday so Ministers can vote to approve the military plans authorised by Netanyahu.

In Syria, Israel has attacked hundreds of military sites since forces led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa deposed longtime leader Bashar Al-Assad in December. Citing potential danger following the ouster, Israel sent troops into the Syrian side of the demilitarised zone that separates the two countries.

It has also pledged to defend Druze communities in Syria from attack by jihadists and government forces.

Netanyahu was scheduled to take off for Azerbaijan on May 7 and return on May 11. He was set to meet with Aliyev to discuss talks between Turkey and Israel over Syria, which Azerbaijan has mediated.

They were also meant to discuss plans to formally connect Azerbaijan with the Abraham Accord framework and various initiatives, and to strengthen bilateral ties as well as trilateral ties with the US.

Azerbaijan also sits on the border of Israel’s archenemy, Iran, and access to the border is widely believed to represent a key enabler of Israel’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear weapon program. Tehran has repeatedly expressed concern that Azerbaijani territory could be used for a possible attack on Iran by Israel, a major arms supplier to Baku.

However, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Azerbaijan earlier this week, in the latest sign of warming relations between the neighboring countries.

Relations between the two countries have been strained for years, largely due to Baku’s close ties with Israel and a January 2023 attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran.

In a recent sign of thawing ties, Iran and Azerbaijan held two days of joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea in November, according to Iranian media.

–IANS

int/khz