In addition to holding landmark talks in Abu Dhabi with Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Azerbaijan’s arch-foe, Armenia, on July 10, President Ilham Aliyev has given the green light for his country to host discreet negotiations, inter alia, between Israel and Syria.
In a 150-minute question-and-answer session in Khankendi with some 150 journalists from 52 countries attending the 3rd Shusha Global Media Forum on July 19, Aliyev said at the outset in English, “There is a strong need for open discussions in a friendly atmosphere on the most important topics—not only those on the media community’s agenda, but also issues on the global agenda.”
He explained why Azerbaijan, a moderate Muslim state that maintains cordial relations with many nations, including warring states such as Israel and Iran or Russia and Ukraine, can now afford to play a more proactive peacemaking role in international affairs.
“I would say that our foreign policy direction has not changed, but the form has changed,” Aliyev said. “The reason is that now, with the Karabakh conflict behind us, we have more time to focus on areas we previously could not, because we were under occupation. The resolution of the conflict, the endless negotiations, the useless visits of the [OSCE] Minsk Group troika—all of that took a lot of time and effort.”
With what he called “the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity,” in a process that began with an Azerbaijani military offensive in 2020 and culminated in the liberation of Karabakh in September 2023, Aliyev said he was now ready to make peace with Armenia and become “much more active on the international stage.”
Responding to a question from Pakistani journalist Agha Iqrar Haroon about Azerbaijan becoming “a hub of international negotiations,” hosting talks between NATO and Russia as well as between Israel and Muslim states, he said, “What you mentioned about our mediation efforts between different countries is only one part of that. We have truly become an active member of the international community. With strong links to various international actors, we can—and will—play a much more important role, at least in the broader region.”
He elaborated, “When I say ‘broader region,’ I mean the South Caucasus, the Middle East, Central Asia, and all that lies in close proximity to Azerbaijan. Also, in Europe, because our agenda with the European Union is currently undergoing what I would call a reset.”
Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the president and head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, revealed on July 20 that Azerbaijan had hosted talks in Baku in an attempt to defuse tensions between Israel and Turkey and, more recently, between Israel and Syria this year.
“I can now confirm that we hosted talks between Israel and Syria,” he told JNS. “We’re open to being a bridge between Israel and Muslim states. We have good relations with all countries in the region.”
In response to a question from Mikhail Gusman of the Russian news agency TASS, Aliyev, 63, stated that since taking over from his father, Heydar Aliyev, as president in 2003, he had acquired invaluable experience in building relationships of trust, including the necessity to adhere to one’s principles and to be honest.
“Trust does not mean agreeing. Trust does not mean being dissatisfied with something to some extent or having a different agenda. Trust means simply believing that if a person has said something, this is what will be the case,” he said.
Ties with the United States, Russia and Ukraine
Asked about his relations with the administration of President Donald Trump, Aliyev recalled he had told the forum last year, before the U.S. elections, that a Trump victory “would be preferable for the Azerbaijani people, given that he, like us, shares fundamental values, including family values. He is the only U.S. president who has not started wars. And in his short time in office, it is clear that he is a man who ends wars. And we are also very grateful to him personally for his desire to help Azerbaijan and Armenia come to an agreement in the end.”
Answering a question from Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon about his advice for Ukraine regarding its war against Russia, Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s primary lesson in its conflict with Armenia was, “Never give up and never come to terms with the violation of territorial integrity.”
Pointing out that he had waited 17 years to recapture Karabakh, Aliyev said if he had not decided to take military action, Azerbaijan might have had to wait for another 17 years.
“This is not about me and this is also, I think, important for the Ukrainians. It is not about a personality and it is not about ambitions. The point is that you need to feel responsible for the generations that lived before us and feel responsible for those who will live after us.”
Aliyev said he expected Russia to acknowledge formally that it had accidentally shot down an Azerbaijani Airlines passenger plane on December 25, 2024, killing 38 of the 67 passengers and crew on board. The flight, en route from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to the Chechen capital, Grozny, crash-landed near Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities, Reuters reported.
He said he had demanded in a letter to Russian authorities that those responsible be held accountable, compensation paid to the victims’ families and that Moscow reimburse the cost of the destroyed aircraft.
“We know exactly what happened and we can prove it. Moreover, we are confident that Russian officials also know what happened,” Aliyev said. “The real question is: Why didn’t they do what any responsible neighbor should do? Our requests or demands are absolutely natural: Admit that this accident was their fault.”
Media resilience
Referring to the theme of this year’s forum, “Digital Pathways: Strengthening Information and Media Resilience in the Age of AI,” Aliyev decried “the extremely negative and unfair” coverage of Azerbaijan in the international media, particularly in Europe.
“Frankly speaking, we’ve already put aside efforts to influence public opinion in Europe. We think it’s a waste of time,” he said. “But the best way, I think, is through events like this—when we host journalists and media leaders from more than 50 countries. Every year, the audience grows and we welcome new guests.”
Directly addressing the journalists in attendance, he argued that “the best way [to explain Azerbaijan’s case] is not to tell you something good about us—but for you to come, speak to the people, ask them what they think about me, about our government and how they see the country developing. Then, only one thing is needed: to tell the truth to your audience. That will, I think, lead to much better mutual understanding.”
Conceding that he had not yet tried AI himself, Aliyev said his family had informed him about its advantages and dangers. “I will probably be using it, too, one day, because artificial intelligence is spreading so fast that the number of users will be very large,” he predicted. “The main thing is that AI should not take us away from the criteria and standards we know.”
