Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has received his Syrian counterpart, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in Baku, where they appear to have focused on energy cooperation between their two countries. Reports have suggested that al-Sharaa has also met with an Israeli delegation on the sidelines of his visit.
Al-Sharaa’s brief visit to Baku commenced and concluded on Saturday.
Official readouts from the Azerbaijani side about al-Sharaa’s visit and meeting with Aliyev said that the two noted a ‘stagnation’ in relations between Syria and Azerbaijan during the rule of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime ‘pursued an unfriendly policy towards Azerbaijan for many years’.
Al-Sharaa ‘regretted that the previous government had damaged Syria's relations with many countries, including Azerbaijan’, adding that his government was interested in political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation with Baku.
The two also reportedly discussed plans to export Azerbaijani gas to Syria via Turkey ‘in the near future’ to contribute to curb Syria’s ongoing energy crisis.
Syria’s Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir signed a memorandum of understanding with the chair of Azerbaijan’s State Oil Company (SOCAR) on the same day.
Following the visit, SANA, Syria’s official news agency, published a letter of gratitude from al-Sharaa, in which he vows that Syria is keen to ‘deepen cooperation in all fields, especially investment in the energy sector’.
‘Azerbaijan and Syria enjoy abundant natural resources and a distinguished location in the heart of the world, which, if established, would give them a significant advantage in the production and supply of energy’, wrote al-Sharaa.
Earlier in July, SANA cited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as confirming Azerbaijan’s readiness to provide Syria with its energy needs.
A meeting with Israel on the sidelines
Ahead of al-Sharaa’s visit to Baku, Israeli media has reported that the interim Syrian president could meet with an Israeli delegation on the sidelines of his trip.
Israel’s Ynet has cited AFP as saying a diplomatic source in Damascus confirmed that Israeli and Syrian officials were to meet on Saturday, but that al-Sharaa would not attend the meeting. The discussions were expected to focus on Israel’s military presence in the Golan Heights
I24 has reported that al-Sharaa would be attending ‘at least one meeting’ with the Israeli delegation, with the Israeli outlet also citing a Syrian source as saying there would be a ‘series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel’.
Israel’s delegation reportedly included a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It is unclear whether the meeting took place on Saturday.
Azerbaijan, a close ally of Israel, has reportedly hosted talks between al-Sharaa’s government and Israel in May.
Nate Ostiller
