Fidan leaves for Azerbaijan amid tensions between Ankara and Baku

According to Kurdistan Press, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend the Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on behalf of Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, October 15; a meeting that will be held in Baku with the participation of representatives of member and observer countries. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has also officially confirmed his attendance at the summit.

Fidan's visit comes at a time when a series of statements by officials and articles published in the media of the two countries have fueled speculation about tensions in Turkish-Azerbaijani relations.According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Fidan is expected to emphasize the need to find common solutions to global crises and geopolitical developments in his speech and bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

Consultation, understanding, mutual trust, regional ownership and strengthening multilateral diplomacy are among the themes that the Turkish Foreign Minister is expected to raise at the summit.

Themes of the Baku Summit

The 7th CICA Summit will be hosted by Azerbaijan, the current chairman of the organization, and will bring together representatives of member states, observer states and partner or observer international organizations.

Topics such as regional cooperation, connecting trade routes, digitalization and sustainable development are on the agenda of the summit under the slogan "A Stronger CICA in Asia; Connectivity, Digitalization and Sustainable Development."A “Baku Declaration” is also expected to be issued at the end of the meeting. The statement will cover activities carried out during the Azerbaijani presidency in the fields of environment, artificial intelligence, sustainable development, strengthening small and medium-sized businesses and expanding Asian cooperation.

The presence of an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official in the UN General Assembly hall during the speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the issues raised in reports about a possible dispute between the two countries. Many diplomats had left the hall as Netanyahu’s speech began.

Azerbaijan’s state-run APA news agency also published a report claiming that Turkey would continue to trade with Israel despite the announcement of a freeze on trade relations in 2024; but the report was later removed from the outlet.Recent statements by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have also been interpreted in the media as another sign of Baku’s discontent. On October 2, Aliyev said that the more powerful and independent Azerbaijan acts, the more pressure it will face.

“Everyone should know their limits, not interfere in our affairs, not comment on our way of life, not tell us what to do. Everyone should take care of their own people and their own government,” he said, without naming any specific country.

Despite these speculations, the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments have not yet announced any official crisis or tension in bilateral relations, and it is unclear whether Fidan’s meetings in Baku will also be devoted to these issues.