Admittedly I’m an outsider but have a keen interest in the region and follow the news/events regularly. I came across this opinion piece and found it interesting. Obviously the government and the people are two very different things, but do you think this is an accurate description of what’s going on for those in power in both countries?
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/silk-road-rivalries/why-turkey-and-azerbaijan-are-falling-out?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=web-share
Posted by Connie-Marble
2 Comments
Azerbaijan is Turkey’s Israel on steroids. Ankara will NEVER act against Azerbaijan wishes even if it hurts core Turkish interests.
The Azeris are important energy exporters, investors, Azerbaijan is our trade route to Central Asia, Aliyev helped Erdoğan get re-elected, the Azerbaijanis have strong grounds in the government as well as opposition parties and many Turks like Azerbaijanis more than they like their very own countrymen.
Also, as weird as this might sound for secular Shia-majority Azerbaijanis but Baku is also feeding the narrative of Christian Armenia vs Muslim Azerbaijan in Sunni-majority Turkey while the Turkish Alevis are highly sympathetic with Shia Azerbaijan, too.
You see, Azerbaijan is only on paper the junior partner. They – the Azerbaijanis – effectively dictate our foreign policy. They decide whether our border with Armenia gets reopened or not.
Lol, the author of this article is a pro-Iranian lobbyist in the EU. He’s an ethnic Talysh from Lankaran who hates Azerbaijanis, and [he got exposed for taking bribes from the IRGC to pass pro-Iranian laws in the European Parliament](https://www.politico.eu/article/sd-adviser-eldar-mamedov-suspended-amid-eu-qatar-probe/).