BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 29. For a month now,
a vicious campaign has been underway in Türkiye against Azerbaijan,
its leader, the Azerbaijani people and the state.


In fact, this process began earlier. Over the past three years,
Azerbaijan has been repeatedly targeted, albeit with occasional
lulls. The main issue has been Azerbaijan's cooperation with
Israel. Those behind the campaign believe Azerbaijan should shape
and conduct its foreign policy and economic relations according to
their wishes.


This is a demeaning approach to Azerbaijan that denies its
independence. It is a completely distorted interpretation of the
principle of “one nation, two states.”


At the same time, numerous facts about Türkiye's own cooperation
with Israel have come to light, and none of them has been
officially refuted. Under these circumstances, why should the
accusations against Azerbaijan be taken seriously?


The campaign flared up again with particular intensity in early
October, using as a pretext the fact that an Azerbaijani
representative did not leave the hall during Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's address at a UN session. Shortly afterward,
following a decision by Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers
concerning a standard school uniform, the campaign became more
vicious and repugnant than ever before, almost turning into a
trending national issue in Türkiye's information space.


During this period, Azerbaijan and its leadership were subjected
to an unprecedented torrent of criticism and insults. Even during
the 30 years of confrontation with Armenia, such degrading rhetoric
had never been directed at Azerbaijan on this scale.


Azerbaijan had expected such an attack from Iran, but instead
suffered the harshest blow from Türkiye, a country it considered
brotherly. Those delivering this blow were the ruling AKP and its
supporters among Islamist and Nurcu groups.


Six rallies were held outside Azerbaijan's embassies in Ankara
and Istanbul, with participants voicing serious accusations and
insults.


Turkish media and social media distorted the issue of the hijab
and carried it into the Arab world's information space, becoming a
major driving force behind the anti-Azerbaijan campaign there.


Official Ankara intervened very late in the process and only
then tried to take some action. Had these steps been taken in time,
and had Ankara avoided not only incitement but also a passive,
bystander stance, matters would never have reached this point.


As a result of the deliberate and sustained campaigns to
demonize Azerbaijan, an unhealthy attitude toward the country and
an unfavorable atmosphere have taken shape in Türkiye.


Reminder


In July 2024, the President of Türkiye did not attend the
informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in
Shusha. The reason was that he attended the football match between
the Turkish and Dutch national teams at the time.


Furthermore, Erdoğan did not attend the World Urban Forum held
in Azerbaijan in May 2026 or the seventh summit of the Conference
on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in
October.


Naturally, both objective and subjective factors determine
whether a head of state attends an event in another country.
However, one should not overlook the fact that reciprocity also
matters in diplomacy.


On October 24, Azerbaijan hosted the opening of the FIFA U-15
World Championship and Festival for the first time in its history.
The event will conclude on October 30.


None of this means that Azerbaijan is withdrawing from the OTS
or scaling back its activities within the organization. Azerbaijan
is one of its founding members and has made considerable efforts to
develop the organization and expand its activities. It will
continue working to advance the OTS.


Taking all these factors into account, it can be argued that the
Azerbaijani president made the right decision by not attending the
OTS summit in Türkiye.