Israeli weapons were used in the wars against Artsakh Republic and Armenia. "Blankspot"

In early May, Turkey imposed a three-month trade embargo against Israel. Formally, this is a protest against Israel's war in Gaza, but experts believe that there are also internal political motives behind it. According to "News.am", the Swedish "Blankspot" periodical writes about it.

Since the embargo, trade has been redirected through other countries.

The customs authorities of Israel and Turkey recorded different figures regarding the turnover of goods between the countries. While the Turkish authorities believe that exports have decreased by 99%, the Israeli side has recorded a decrease of 69%. The Middle East Eye review shows that trade was mainly through Greece.

Israeli-Turkish relations are complicated and have been frozen and settled for years. The latest diplomatic crisis has been officially declared by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a landmark against war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which he has described as genocide. However, Turkish analysts believe that there are also internal political motives behind this rhetoric.

This is partly because Turkey is in the midst of a deep, multi-year economic crisis that the government is unable to overcome. The ruling party lost support both in the parliamentary elections held in May 2023 and in the local government elections held in the spring of 2024.

One of the goals of the tougher measures against Israel is perhaps to curb resentment against the government, on the one hand, for officially supporting Palestine in the war, while on the other hand, continuing to trade with Israel.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that Baku is still allowed to use Turkish ports to export oil to Israel. This sparked more than a month of student protests against the Azerbaijani state oil company Socar in Istanbul. Among other things, activists painted the walls red to show that Baku is complicit in the killing of civilians.

Azeri oil accounts for about 40% of Israel's consumption and is said to be playing an important role in the Gaza war. Similarly, Israel is one of Baku's largest exporters of high-tech weapons. Israeli weapons were used in the wars against Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia.

The oil pipeline from Baku to the Turkish port city of Ceyhan was completed in the early 2000s and is considered important for the economy of the oil-producing country.

Azerbaijani political scientist Bahruz Samadov described the dilemma of Baku's close alliance with both Israel and Turkey. While Turkish society criticizes Israel, Azeri politics goes in a different direction.

Relations between Baku and Turkey are often described as "two countries, one people". During the demonstrations against "Socar" in Istanbul, the common slogan was "two countries, one betrayal".

Galiya Lindenstrauss, an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, told the French newspaper RFI that Baku's continued oil exports indicate the stability of close relations.

"Baku has not yet stopped exporting oil to Israel. On the contrary, it continues as usual, and this is once again the fact of Baku's reliability and being a real partner of Israel," said Galiya Lindenstrauss.