Azerbaijan has traditionally participated in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. However, for Azerbaijani diplomacy, Antalya 2025 has the potential to become a significant turning point. In essence, Azerbaijan is no longer merely declaring but actively demonstrating its role as a “middle power” and one of the key players in a new region: Syria and the broader Middle East.
Azerbaijan was represented at the Antalya Forum at the highest level. The country’s President, Ilham Aliyev, and First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva, attended the forum’s opening. A series of bilateral meetings took place. Understandably, the talks between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey—Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—deserve particular attention. Given the genuinely brotherly relations between the two nations, such a meeting was more than expected. However, the official statement following the talks listed not only the South Caucasus but also the Middle East as topics of discussion—something that is highly notable in itself. This comes against the backdrop of ongoing Turkey-Israel negotiations in Baku and President Aliyev’s statement that Azerbaijan played a role in the initial rapprochement between Turkey and Israel.
Even more noteworthy was President Ilham Aliyev’s first meeting with Ahmed al-Shaar, the President of Syria’s Transitional Administration. During the talks, President Aliyev recalled that following recent developments, an Azerbaijani delegation was swiftly dispatched to Syria, and Azerbaijan’s embassy—previously inactive due to the Assad regime’s policies—had resumed operations. He expressed Azerbaijan’s willingness to participate in Syria’s reconstruction process, which is essential for ensuring stability. In turn, Ahmed al-Shaar thanked the Azerbaijani leader for his support and emphasized the importance of Azerbaijan’s future cooperation in the fields of energy, infrastructure, and security. Most significantly, the development of a trilateral cooperation format between Azerbaijan, Syria, and Turkey was discussed during the meeting. An agreement was reached on mutual high-level visits by official delegations and business representatives from all three countries. Ahmed al-Shaar also received an official invitation to visit Azerbaijan.
Beneath the dry lines of the official communiqué lie far-reaching geopolitical shifts. Syria—and more broadly, the Levant and the Middle East—was until recently a region where Azerbaijan had neither notable influence nor even a role to play. But today, thanks to close coordination with its brotherly ally Turkey, official Baku is rapidly becoming one of the most active and visible players in this newly opened geopolitical arena. And this is happening against a very intriguing backdrop. During his talks with Ilham Aliyev, Ahmed al-Shaar not only reaffirmed his commitment to restoring Syria’s stability but also expressed concern over the influence of external actors.
Which external players al-Shaar was referring to remains unspecified at the official level. However, under Assad, Syria closely resembled early 20th-century Iran. Russian intelligence officer Leonid Shebarshin, who headed Moscow’s Tehran station after the anti-Shah revolution, wrote in his memoirs:
“Iran was less a participant and more a passive object of global events… Bloody battles raged across Europe—between the Entente powers and Germany-Austria-Hungary. Iran was neutral, yet British forces and General Baratov’s Russian expeditionary corps entered its territory to fight the Turks in Mesopotamia. The Iranians were never asked; they were confronted with faits accomplis, and the last Qajars had neither the will nor the means to resist. After the Russian Revolution, General Dunsterville’s British corps advanced from Iran into the South Caucasus and seized Baku, while the Trans-Caspian part of Turkestan—Ashgabat and Krasnovodsk—was occupied. The war was being waged from Iranian soil, but of course, the British never thought to consult the Iranians.”
During Assad’s era, Iran established infrastructure in Syria aimed against Israel; Russia revitalized its military bases targeting Turkey; the U.S. sought to strengthen its presence, largely through the Kurds; and Israel regularly struck Iranian military facilities.
But Assad is no longer in charge. Syria’s new leadership is determined to restore the country’s sovereignty. Turkey and Azerbaijan are expected to play a crucial role in that process.
This marks a fundamentally new stage for Azerbaijani diplomacy. The country is asserting itself in regions and processes where, not long ago, few would have expected to hear its voice. Today, that voice is a reality.
Azerbaijan has not only restored its territorial integrity and accomplished a task that many post-Soviet states have failed to achieve—it has passed a formidable test of statehood and earned its place in the “next political league.” This was clearly confirmed by President Ilham Aliyev’s meetings and negotiations in Antalya.
