By AZE.US Editorial Team
Turkey is entitled to expect an alliance with Azerbaijan. But an alliance does not give Ankara the right to direct Azerbaijani foreign policy, interfere in the country’s schools or demand explanations for Baku’s relations with third countries.
Responsibility for the current cooling lies primarily with the Turkish political circles that decided brotherhood meant subordination.
President Ilham Aliyev will not attend the Organization of Turkic States summit in Ankara on Oct. 30. Report.az said the reason was a previously scheduled program and a busy work calendar. Aliyev will remain in Baku to present awards to finalists of the FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov will represent Azerbaijan.
There is no official confirmation that the decision is connected to disagreements with Turkey. It would be wrong to assign unspoken motives to the president. It would be equally wrong to pretend the political context does not exist.
That is especially true because President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally invited Aliyev to the summit during an Oct. 21 telephone call.
After such an invitation, the Azerbaijani president’s absence inevitably becomes a subject of discussion. Ankara should first ask itself why relations with its closest ally reached a point where an ordinary explanation about a work schedule no longer satisfies anyone.
An Ally Was Treated Like a Student
A dispute over school clothing in Azerbaijan moved far beyond a domestic debate. Oktay Saral, then a senior adviser to the Turkish president, and representatives of the governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP, joined the criticism. Their statements were viewed in Azerbaijan as interference in the country’s internal affairs.
This is where the fundamental boundary lies. A Turkish politician may hold an opinion about religion and education. But a position in Ankara does not confer authority to set rules for Azerbaijani schools.
Azerbaijan has its own state, institutions and society. The country’s secular character does not require approval from Turkey’s governing party.
It is especially unacceptable to turn Turkey’s domestic religious agenda into a test of Baku’s loyalty. Azerbaijan is not obliged to serve the AKP’s electoral needs. Its citizens are not an extension of a Turkish constituency.
Assistance Does Not Purchase Sovereignty
Turkey’s support is of enormous importance to Azerbaijan. But gratitude cannot be converted into a permanent political debt.
When assistance is invoked to question where Baku may sell oil, with whom it may cooperate or how it may organize education, it ceases to look like an alliance of equals. It begins to resemble a claim of guardianship.
An APA analysis published Oct. 29 framed the issue in precisely those terms: Azerbaijan should not arrange its foreign relations according to Turkey’s wishes. The agency sharply criticized the campaign against Baku and said Ankara’s response came late. That is APA’s editorial position, but the tone itself illustrates the depth of accumulated frustration.
Turkish political circles should understand a simple point: the formula “one nation, two states” contains two states. Removing the second half destroys the principle on which the alliance rests.
A Resignation Does Not Erase the Consequences
Saral’s resignation cannot automatically restore the former atmosphere. He said he left his position on Erdoğan’s instructions, but the personnel change does not by itself settle the broader dispute.
The problem is larger than one official. If an ally is subjected to public demands and the issue is then expected to disappear after a staffing decision, that is too convenient for those who allowed the conflict and too humiliating for those who were lectured.
Ankara must end the practice of treating closeness with Azerbaijan as permission to interfere in its decisions.
On Oct. 29, Aliyev congratulated Erdoğan on Turkey’s Republic Day and emphasized the allied character of the relationship. Baku continues to use the language of respect and cooperation.
It is entitled to expect the same maturity from Ankara.
Azerbaijan should not have to prove loyalty to Turkey by surrendering its independence. If part of Turkey’s political class still does not understand that, responsibility for the cooling in relations should be sought there.
This editorial is based on an original analysis by the Vesti Baku Editorial Board.