Expert: Karabakh’s liberation - impetus for strengthening ties between Arab countries & Azerbaijan

The second Karabakh war and the liberation of the ancestral Azerbaijani lands from the occupation created the basis for the development of closer ties between the Arab countries and Azerbaijan, political observer, managing director of risk assessment and consulting company The International Interest Sami Hamdi told Report.

“I think that since the campaign for the liberation of Nagorno-Karabagh, there has been a renewed sense of awareness and affinity for Azerbaijan in both public opinion and also at state level.

The campaign resonated across the Muslim world and it has sparked an impetus for developing closer ties with Baku in the spirit of strengthening Azerbaijan's position in the region,” he said.

This was reflected in the manner Algeria invited Azerbaijan’s president as a guest of honor at the Arab League summit in Algiers.

Moreover, the campaign laid bare the changing political and security dynamics that has seen Central Asia countries generally begin to assert themselves outside the traditional Cold War dynamics, he noted.

“Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has resulted in a significant shift in the energy markets as Europe seeks to diversify its imports, and Azerbaijan stands to be one of the primary beneficiaries of these changes.

It is in this context that the UAE and Qatar have been pushing for greater investment in energy and food security in Azerbaijan in order to capitalize on what they perceive to be the changing winds in the region,” he said.

“The UAE has already announced investments in Azerbaijan's energy sector in a gamble that Baku will eventually become a key supplier to Europe and a major geo-strategic player in the region. Qatar is aware of Azerbaijan's potential to compete in the gas market and is seeking to establish cooperation and coordination in order to ensure that any competition is mutually beneficial rather than at the expense of one another,” he added.