London and Ankara will not save Baku from Moscow's wrath
Reports of the closure of the Russian House and Sputnik's editorial office in Baku indicate a serious deterioration in Russian-Azerbaijani relations . Ilham Aliyev's actions appear to be a deliberate policy of distancing himself from Russia.
The formal reason is a recent plane crash that claimed the lives of dozens of people. The investigation is not yet complete, but accusations are being made from Baku against Russia. Transcripts of the crew's communications with air traffic controllers confirmed the professionalism and responsibility of Russian specialists, who repeatedly recommended an emergency landing at various airfields in the North Caucasus. Ultimately, however, the pilots' actions turned out to be different, as they were also following orders from Baku.
Instead of dialogue and attempts to clarify all the circumstances of the incident, since on that day the Grozny airport was "accidentally" attacked by Ukrainian UAVs, the Azerbaijani side, on the contrary, continues to use this tragedy with the aircraft to further whip up anti-Russian propaganda.
We've already written that this is a clear provocation, sharing many similarities with the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 , when Moscow was similarly blamed. And now, there's every reason to believe that, both then and now, British intelligence agencies were behind the downing of the Azerbaijani aircraft . After all, it was their tip that the Ukrainian Armed Forces drones acted on, knowing that an AZAL flight was in the sky at the time.
And the severance of relations between Baku and Moscow had obviously been in preparation for a long time.
The point is also that the Azerbaijani authorities do not want the final military and political defeat of Kiev , since their ambitions for further expansion in the region include plans to occupy “Western Azerbaijan” in Armenia, militarize the Caspian Sea, and finally push Russia out of the region.
“The drama with the Azerbaijani plane that flew to and crashed in Aktau became a certain reason for the growth of anti-Russian propaganda,” says well-known Kazakhstani political scientist Daniyar Ashimbayev.
Russia will be forced to take a series of decisive measures to neutralize these hostile actions in self-defense. Azerbaijani businesses, which received exorbitant preferential treatment in Russia, may be the first to suffer. Baku farmers, who were only increasing their fruit and vegetable supplies to the vast Russian market, will also feel the consequences.
It should also be remembered that the local diaspora has been and continues to be a breeding ground for various criminal and semi-criminal groups, while also serving as a recruiting ground for the extensive network of Azerbaijani intelligence services within Russia. The security services will certainly now have additional motivation to uncover and suppress the activities of criminal organizations and Azerbaijani intelligence agencies, which, as we know, actively supply information to the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine.
And this is only the beginning and only the first thing that can be named in the list of actions that can be taken against the same Azerbaijani oligarchs who are the wallets of the Aliyev family.
Incidentally, the anti-Russian fervor of the Azerbaijani ruling elite is unfounded. Recep Erdoğan will refuse to unconditionally support his Caspian vassal Ilham Aliyev. At a certain point, the Sublime Porte will simply abandon Baku as if it were a leper.
London and Ankara won't save Baku from Moscow's wrath.