Russia and Azerbaijan developed strong economic and cultural ties after 1993, when the father of the current President Ilham Alijew, Hejdar, who was the previously communist leader of the Azerbaijani Soviet Republic, became president. Like Putin, the ruling continuously since 2003, Alijew Junior suppresses political opponents and limits independent media.
The alliance of both countries was based on mutual benefits. As the Associated Press agency writes, Azerbaijan bought crude oil and natural gas from Russia to meet national demand, while he exported his own energy resources to the West. Russia was also the main market for Azeri fruit and vegetables. In addition, it was a key transport corridor for Russian trade with Iran and other partners in the Middle East.
- The Ukrainian has no doubt. “It would be a political death of Zelanski!”
Azerbaijan wanted to create a commercial “middle corridor”
The new opportunities for the development of Azerbaijan were brought by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which blocked the northern transit trail of goods from Asia to Europe. This is how the concept of the “middle corridor” was created, which leads through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the southern Caucasus towards the European Union.
“After the Russian invasion, there was a significant increase in interest in the construction of the Central Corridor not only on the part of the EU or the US, but also Beijing and global logistics corporations” – says the Center for Eastern Studies. This concept is also pushed by the Azerbaijan himself.
The drastic tension of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan took place in December 2024, when the Russian rocket shot down the Azerbaijan civil aircraft over the threat. As a result, 38 out of 67 people on board were killed. Ultimately, Putin apologized to Alijew, but he did not confess.
- The well -known critic Putin warns against Moscow. “In the near future we may not see the end of the war”
Russian services hit the Azerbaijani minority
At the end of June, Moscow hit the Azerbaijania diaspora in Russia, which officially has about 500,000 people (unofficially even 2 million). In connection with the investigation of the murder of Junis Pasayev 20 years ago, there was a massive detention of representatives of the Azerbaijan diaspora. Among the detainees were the restaurateur and co -owner of the market in the Woronegeon Jusif Chaliłow and the son of the head of the Azeri Diaspora and the owner of the shopping center in Jekaterinburg, Shichlinski. Brothers Gusejn and Zijaddin Safarow, owners of the cafe died in custody.
Businessmen associated with Baku have significant interests, including in construction, real estate, trade and other sectors of the Russian economy. In response, the services of Azerbaijan arrested two employees of the Russian agency Sputnik, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Moscow ambassador and dismissed all Russian cultural events in the country.
The ally of Baku – Türkiye, looks with a quiet eye to the conflict between Russia and Azerbaijan. Both countries are bound by a close political, military and cultural alliance, often referred to as the relationship “two countries, one nation”. In the face of tensions with Russia, Azerbaijan strengthens cooperation with Turkey, which Moscow perceives as a strategic threat.
- So bad and so bad. Political Pat is in Armenia. The inhabitants can only be “survive and wait for dawn”
Experts clearly about the situation of Azerbaijan. “Russia can answer”
Commenting on the pacification of the Azeri Diaspora, the American Think Tank Robert Lansing Institute points out that Russian media present arrests in Baku as “Russophobic”, while Azeri media emphasize the threat of infiltration on the part of Russia.
“Russia can answer through informal economic pressure, e.g. delays in the briefing of Azeri trucks or migrants, or through secret operations of influencing the territory of Azerbaijan,” reads in the analysis.
As the Associated Press writes, Alijew discussed tensions with Russia in a telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelnski. This gesture seems to be deliberately aimed at the Kremlin. Zelanski supported Baku “in a situation where Russia threatens the Republic of Azerbaijan and intimidates its citizens.”
