The largest NATO base in the region will be built in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has announced its intention to host Turkey's largest military base in the region on its territory, which, given Turkey's membership in NATO, will effectively become an Alliance base. This is reported by the publications EADaily, Middle East Eye and Telegram channel DNR info.

Photo: Hyotographics | Dreamstime.com

The deployment of a Turkish military base on the territory of Azerbaijan was announced by the former head of the presidential administration of Azerbaijan Eldar Namazov. The decision is connected with the sharp deterioration of relations with Russia and Baku's desire to strengthen security by strengthening military cooperation with Ankara based on the Shusha Declaration of 2021.

Azerbaijan has announced that it will build a military base with Turkey near the border with the Russian Federation. This base will be the largest in the region.

Eldar Namazov told Azerbaijani media: "The decision to place the largest Turkish military base in the region, in Azerbaijan, should be made in the near future. For neighbors who don't understand, part of this base will be enough to serve a population of 250 million. It can even be leased to our other ally, the Pakistan Air Force, which has nuclear weapons."

He referred to the 2021 Shusha Declaration, which obliges Turkey and Azerbaijan to defend each other in case of aggression, and called this approach “peace through strength.”

The Shusha Declaration, signed on June 15, 2021, by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Shusha, enshrines allied relations, including military cooperation and mutual assistance.

In addition, the document mentions the Zangezur corridor, which connects the main part of Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia.

On the subject: Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan: dozens killed

Conflict with Russia

Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia have reached a critical point this year.

In December 2024, Russian air defense systems shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near Grozny, killing 38 people. Russian authorities said the air defenses were activated to counter possible Ukrainian drone attacks in Chechnya.

The incident became a catalyst for tensions. The situation worsened when Russian police in Yekaterinburg killed Azeri brothers Ziyaddin and Guseyn Safarov and wounded several others during a murder investigation. An investigation in Azerbaijan found that the brothers had been tortured.

Azerbaijan took retaliatory measures. The visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk was cancelled, and all planned cultural events with Russian state and private organizations were suspended.

Azerbaijani police have raided the state-run news agency Sputnik Azerbaijan and arrested its editor-in-chief and director on espionage charges.

Media outlets showed footage of several Russian citizens accused of drug trafficking and other crimes being manhandled and publicly ridiculed as they were being loaded into a van.

There have been reports of possible closure of Russian schools in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani MP Tural Ganjali said: "In today's Russia, chauvinism, discrimination and Islamophobia are now open and supported by the state. Migrants and non-Russians are forced to participate in the war, threatened and blackmailed. This is a widespread policy, organized and encouraged by the Russian government."

He also stressed: “Azerbaijan has not forgotten about the downed civilian plane, and we will not tolerate Russia’s silence. From the ban on Azerbaijani MPs entering Russia to state-sponsored cyberattacks, anti-Azerbaijani hostility is growing. These are not isolated incidents; they are part of a broader hostile policy.”

Azerbaijan's state television channel addressed the Russian leader on air: "What happened, Mr. Putin? You are so worried that Azerbaijan has become a strong state, has regained its lands, has restored sovereignty, and that President Ilham Aliyev is recognized internationally! You are used to dominating peoples who were forcibly incorporated into Russia. Whether in Tsarist or Soviet times, Russians considered themselves the main race, and others were second-class citizens. Although the former empires have sunk into oblivion, their mentality remains."

Background to the conflict

In 2020, after Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War, Russian President Vladimir Putin brokered a ceasefire that forced Armenia to retreat from most of the territory it had previously controlled in Azerbaijan.

Despite Russia's traditional support for Armenia, Moscow clearly supported Baku in 2020, issuing official statements in its favor. In 2024, Putin made the first ever visit by a Russian head of state to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the time: “Our countries continue to act as allies, friends, close partners and neighbors.”

However, less than a year later, relations deteriorated sharply.

Khuseynov noted: “Moscow needs Baku more than ever as it seeks markets and transport corridors to the south to access Turkey, Iran and the Persian Gulf. Azerbaijan is using its geopolitical influence against Russia, which is isolated due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions.”

Some Azerbaijani media reported that Türkiye, Armenia and Azerbaijan are close to an agreement that would exclude Russia from control over the Zangezur corridor, where Russian FSB officers operated under a 2020 agreement.

An Armenian official denied the reports: “Yerevan’s position remains unchanged: Armenia opposes any foreign control over its sovereign territory and is open to cooperation with other countries to open trade routes, but there is no new agreement, as reported. These reports are fake.”

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Middle East Eye: "With Iran weakened after the 12-day war with Israel, Baku has been given more freedom to resist Russian demands for a peace deal with Armenia."

The diplomat added that Azerbaijan may be deliberately escalating relations with Russia to extract concessions on other issues. Other regional diplomats have noted that Turkey has been quietly encouraging Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace deal, as confirmed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Istanbul last month, the first official visit by an Armenian leader to Turkey since the Cold War.

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Huseynov stressed: “Azerbaijan’s diversified foreign policy – ​​anchored by alliances with Turkey and Pakistan, strategic partnerships with Israel and, more recently, China – has further reduced its dependence on Moscow. Russian officials are likely concerned about Turkey’s expanding political and military influence in the South Caucasus, especially through its close ties with Azerbaijan.”

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