Türkiye has not yet stopped loading oil tankers in the port of Ceyhan heading to Israel, according to Israeli sources. Azerbaijan is an important supplier of oil to Israel, via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, at the end of which the oil is loaded onto tankers that transport it to Haifa.
In January this year, Israel topped the list of destinations for Azerbaijani oil with 523,500 tons worth $297 million. In the period from January to November 2023, Israel came in second place with 2.24 million tons worth $1.38 billion. Other major suppliers of oil to Israel include Kazakhstan and Nigeria.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev enjoys excellent relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who does not wish to directly harm Azerbaijan's interests.
In general, relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan are close, and are based on the idea of ”one nation, two states.” Azerbaijanis are a Turkic people, like the Kazakhs and Uzbeks, but Azerbaijan has the deepest relations with Türkiye.
At the same time, Israel is a very important supplier of weapons to Azerbaijan. Israeli weapons exported to that country include Harop loitering munitions produced by Israel Aerospace Industries, the LORA (Long Range Artillery) system, and the Barak MX surface-to-air missile system, which Azerbaijan purchased in November last year for $1.2 billion. The Israel Aerospace Industries Corporation also sold two satellites to Azerbaijan last October for $120 million.
Israel's relations with Azerbaijan are the most stable of any Muslim country, and have flourished since 1992. In 1993, Israel opened its embassy in Baku. Relations were originally based on Azerbaijani oil and Israeli arms, but over the years, and especially since President Ilham Aliyev came to power in 2003, relations have expanded to include many other areas, such as education, for example.
Another expression of confidence in the relationship came last year with the opening of the Azerbaijan embassy in Tel Aviv. President Aliyev Mukhtar Mammadov, a well-known figure in Baku and until then Minister of Education and Science, was appointed first ambassador.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on May 5, 2024.
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