Oil Link Between Israel and Azerbaijan Despite Turkey’s Ongoing Tensions: A Closer Look

Azerbaijan is a major oil supplier to Israel, with oil being transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and loaded onto tankers headed for Haifa. According to senior Israeli officials, Turkey has not yet halted the loading of these oil tankers from the port of Ceyhan in Turkey to Israel. This information was revealed to Globes for the first time today. In January, Israel ranked first in Azerbaijan’s oil export targets, receiving 523.5 thousand tons worth approximately 297 million dollars.

Israel’s relationship with Azerbaijan is one of its most stable with a Muslim country, dating back to 1992. The two countries have expanded their cooperation in various areas like education, and last year, Azerbaijan opened its embassy in Tel Aviv. This move demonstrated a strengthening of ties between the two nations, highlighting the importance of their relationship.

The reason Turkey continues to supply oil to Israel is not due to Jerusalem’s interests, but rather to maintain a strong relationship with Baku. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has good relations with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan is hesitant to take actions that would directly harm Aliyev, as Turkey and Azerbaijan have a deep relationship based on the idea of “one nation, two states.”

Israel is also a major supplier of military equipment to Azerbaijan, including the “Haroop” armament and “Laura” missiles, as well as the purchase of the Barak MX air defense system from Israel Aerospace Industries for 1.2 billion dollars