Big Chill Between Turkey and Azerbaijan

Relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan appear to have deteriorated sharply. A speech delivered at a party conference in which President Ilham Aliyev emphasised his country’s independence has been interpreted as an attack on Ankara. A ban on headscarves in Azerbaijani schools has met with sharp criticism in Turkey, and now Baku has imposed entry bans on 31 Turkish nationals. Puzzling silenceJOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Karar (Turkey) demands explanations: “This can’t be just about headscarves. Clearly a major bone of contention between the two countries emerged even before the headscarf issue escalated. ... What the real problem is, we don’t actually know. Why do we not know? Because the scope, strength and nature of relations between the two countries are determined less by institutions than by the friendship between the two presidents. ... It’s odd that these two leaders – who we thought had the closest, most genuine and brotherly relationship among all leaders – have not uttered a single conciliatory word since the crisis began. Absolute silence. They haven’t even talked on the phone, let alone paid a visit.” Aliyev’s tyranny has no future The pro-government Yeni Akit (Turkey) suspects that the ban on headscarves in Azerbaijan is driven by the autocratic president’s fear of losing power: “Aliyev, who has revived the headscarf ban for no apparent reason and is willing to risk falling out with the Turkish people – who prayed for him during the Karabakh War – and with Turkey, which has supported him politically and militarily, is in reality driven by the fear that his own people might be influenced by the climate of freedom in Turkey. ... But as he commits these acts of tyranny he overlooks the fact that ‘no tyranny lasts forever’.” Other Topics of Interest Azerbaijan Announces Plans to Buy Russian Gas Despite Western Sanctions Azerbaijan signals renewed gas purchases from Gazprom at Russian Energy Week, raising questions over Baku’s role as an alternative supplier to Europe. See the original here.