Sergey Markedonov analyzes policies of Eurasian Triangle countries

ArmInfo.Sergey Markedonov, the  leading researcher at the Euro-Atlantic Security Center of the MGIMO  Institute for International Studies, analyzed the policies of the  Eurasian Triangle countries - Azerbaijan-Israel-Iran.

Thus, the expert stated that on the last Wednesday of March, the head  of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Jeyhun Bayramov, visited Israel.  He drew attention to the fact that at the joint press conference the  minister thanked the Jewish state for the consistent support of  Azerbaijan and its territorial integrity. In turn, Bayramov's Israeli  counterpart Eli Cohen (by the way, the full namesake of the famous  intelligence officer) considered official Baku's decision to open an  embassy in Tel Aviv as "historic".

"Iran reacted as expected to the meeting of the two ministers. On  March 31, Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic  Republic Nasser Kanaani spoke out against the machinations of the  "Zionist regime" and the inadmissibility of turning Azerbaijan into  an unfriendly state. Azerbaijan is presented as an object of a  "Zionist conspiracy" (with particular emphasis on the long-standing  historical and cultural ties between Iranians and Azerbaijanis), and  Georgia as a country that has fallen under the bad influence of the  United States and the West as a whole," Markedonov noted.

At the same time, the expert drew attention to the fact that  relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are not going through the best  times today. "Emotions and passions have not yet subsided after the  attack on the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran on January 27, 2023. As a  result, a lot of assumptions and "scenarios" were spread in the media  and social networks that new "geopolitical axes" were being formed in  the Caucasus and the Middle East, and that Baku and Tel Aviv would be  on the same boat against Tehran," the political scientist believes.

He drew attention to the fact that several years ago, the well-known  SIPRI think tank published its calculations, according to which in  2015-2019, Azerbaijan purchased 60% of its strike and defense systems  from Israel from all military imports.

At the same time, he wondered if this data is enough to clearly place  the figures on the Eurasian geopolitical board?

According to Markedonov, there is no doubt that the opening of the  Azerbaijani embassy in the Jewish state, as well as the presentation  of credentials to the first ambassador, Mukhtar Mammadov, are  developments of great symbolic significance.

"However, one should not overestimate their "historicity",  nevertheless, it follows logically from the whole dynamics of  relations between Baku and Tel Aviv in the post-Soviet period.

However, it should be kept in mind that along with its pro-Israeli  line, Azerbaijan maintains a high level of relations with Palestine.  The opening of the embassy in Tel Aviv and Bayramov's meeting with  Cohen came under the focus of media attention. At the same time, the  news about the opening of a representative office of Azerbaijan in  Ramallah and the meeting of the country's Foreign Minister with  Mahmoud Abbas remained in the shadows. Meanwhile, Baku has previously  maintained close contacts with the Palestinian Authority, voted in  the UN for granting it the status of an observer state. And the  public mindset inside Azerbaijan has always been taken into account  by the authorities of this country. And no matter what difficulties  arose earlier in the Iranian direction (and there were many), they  tried not to cross the "red lines," the Russian political scientist  added.

According to him, in general, the foreign policy of post-Soviet  Azerbaijan is built not on the basis of joining certain alliances,  but through selective partnership.

"This is not a choice between the West and Russia, Iran and Israel,  but diplomatic diversification. However, Baku's partners are acting  in a similar way. And the Azerbaijani authorities certainly do not  like to be used in their geopolitical combinations. The West is not  the first time turns its eyes to Baku, having views on Iran, and now  on Russia. But the Azerbaijani authorities, even after the "second  Karabakh" did not accept the recognition of the Turkish Republic of  Northern Cyprus.

It's the big powers that love to indulge in shades of black and  white. Medium and small ones prefer halftones and nuances. It's this  way easier to survive in this "crazy world"," he summed up.