Remember, Ilham Aliyev took this historic step for you – Turkish politician

“ Azerbaijan’s intelligence service ranks among the world’s top five intelligence agencies. Established in 1919, the intelligence agency became part of the Azerbaijani SSR State Security Committee in 1950. Heydar Aliyev later headed the committee.”

TodayPress TV reports that Turkish politician Feyzi İşbaşaran made the remarks in an interview with Globalinfo.az.

He said that although Abulfaz Elchibey had attempted to reform and nationalise the security structure inherited from the Soviet era, he had failed to do so.

“After Abulfaz Elchibey, Heydar Aliyev restructured the intelligence agency, which he knew well, in a very short period of time. Following Heydar Aliyev’s election as president, Israel – one of the first countries, alongside Türkiye, to recognise Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991 – opened its embassy in Baku in 1993.

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Baku on August 29, 1997, and met with President Heydar Aliyev. This meeting played an important role in laying the foundations for Azerbaijan-Israel relations. Through the cooperation he established with Israel, Heydar Aliyev also built ties with the Jewish lobby in the United States. This helped Azerbaijan make its voice heard more widely in the US on the Karabakh issue and secure support from Israel and the Jewish lobby against the embargoes imposed on Azerbaijan by the US Congress, including Section 907.

“After Heydar Aliyev’s death, his son Ilham Aliyev, who became president, continued the policy towards Israel. He further deepened Azerbaijan-Israel relations in intelligence, defence cooperation, energy and other fields.”

İşbaşaran noted that in 2015, Ilham Aliyev carried out another restructuring of the Azerbaijani intelligence system inherited from his father.

“The intelligence and security system was reorganised into two branches: domestic security, represented by the State Security Service (SSS), and foreign intelligence, represented by the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS).

“Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel never troubled Türkiye. At the time, Türkiye’s own relations with Israel were also quite good. In other words, Azerbaijan was following Türkiye’s policy towards Israel and the Jewish community.

“Following the Mavi Marmara incident, which had strained relations with Israel, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev played a mediating role in restoring ties. Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Türkiye on March 9–10, 2022, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September 2023 at the Turkish House in New York. Netanyahu was also expected to visit Türkiye, but the trip was postponed due to health-related reasons.

“On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, and Israel’s disproportionate response led to the tragedy in Gaza. That tragedy is still continuing.

“Yesterday, our relations with Israel were good; today, they are bad; tomorrow, they may become good again. However, Azerbaijan should not be treated unfairly because of its relations with Israel. After all, 30 years ago, Azerbaijan also followed our policy towards Israel and the Jewish community. We must be fair on this issue.”