Turkey’s patronage gives Aliyev confidence in standoff with Russia — Dmitry Zhuravlev

Dmitry Zhuravlev, Russian political scientist, associate professor and candidate of sciences at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, commented to Alpha News on anti-Russian statements by Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan.

“Unfortunately, it seems to me that Azerbaijan has oriented itself toward Turkey to such an extent that, as time goes on, it increasingly seeks not to be our ally but, on the contrary, to stand against us. And it’s clear that its support for Ukraine is purely political in nature. It’s a kind of signal to the Western world: we’re with you, we’re on your side. Ukraine, in this case, has become a sort of litmus test, the clearest way to determine who is truly an ally and who isn’t,” the expert noted.

According to the political scientist, if not for Russia, a unified Azerbaijan likely wouldn’t exist today.

“As for Ilham Aliyev’s confidence, its basis is Turkey’s patronage. It’s precisely Ankara’s support that gives him the sense that he can stand against Russia safely and with impunity. All the more so because, in his view, Azerbaijan already got everything it could from Russia back in the 1990s. If not for Russia, a unified Azerbaijan most likely simply wouldn’t exist today. But from his point of view, that favor has already been rendered and is now a thing of the past,” Zhuravlev said.