Azerbaijani President Aliyev: We have not given consent to participate in a peacekeeping mission in the Gaza Strip

2026-01-07 13:11:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Azerbaijani President Aliyev: We have not given consent to participate in a

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that his country has not given any consent to participate in any peacekeeping mission in the Gaza Strip.

Aliyev stressed that Middle East issues should be resolved by relevant countries and international structures such as the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

In a response to a CBC TV journalist, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has received such requests, but that any decision will depend on the meaning of the operation's mandate and its nature.

“We have received such requests. Of course, before making a decision, we need to clearly understand what the mandate of the operation would be and what kind of operations are planned. We have experience in participating in peacekeeping operations in Iraq, previously in Kosovo and of course in Afghanistan; therefore, we are very aware of the operational structure.

As for the situation in the Gaza Strip, in our view, it remains unclear who will give the mandate and what nature it will have. Will these operations be 'peacekeeping' or 'peace enforcement'? These are two different things. We are of course not ready for the second option, and we have never considered participating in them.

Regarding our peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, fortunately – and partly thanks to our stance – we did not have any casualties. There were no losses during those years, because we defined our function as the protection of strategic objects. We never participated in combat operations and I am not considering any participation in combat operations outside Azerbaijan. The second factor, which we have communicated to our American partners, is that my country has suffered from aggression; it is a country that has suffered heavy losses – to a lesser extent in the First Karabakh War, but much more so in the Second Karabakh War.

Every citizen of Azerbaijan is precious to us. We do not intend to risk the lives and health of Azerbaijanis for the sake of others. When we were in difficulty, we were left to our own devices. No one protected us. Moreover, with all the respect and solidarity for Palestine, Palestine did not protect us in any special way either. Yes, there were resolutions from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) supported by everyone. We are grateful for this, just as Azerbaijan has always supported Palestine and the creation of a Palestinian state in the UN, in the Non-Aligned Movement and in the OIC. The Palestinian Embassy operates in Azerbaijan, partially supported by Azerbaijan's financial assistance. Therefore, I have always held the position that the issues of Arab countries should be resolved by the Arab countries themselves.

I am deeply convinced that non-Arab Muslim countries should not act without considering the circumstances. This will not lead to anything good. There is the Arab League; the Arab League has a fairly clear position and we follow it. There are OIC decisions; we participated in their adoption and we follow them. Therefore, showing unnecessary activism and coming forward is not the best way. Regarding the possibility of participating in actions in the Middle East, we were surprised by the statement of the US Ambassador to the UN, who claimed that Azerbaijan had given its consent.

We did not give consent and we have made it known to the US administration through diplomatic channels that such false statements are unacceptable and create a wrong impression. Perhaps there was an attempt to lure others into this process by saying that Azerbaijan had agreed; I do not exclude this, but if so, it is absolutely unacceptable. We have compiled a questionnaire with more than 20 questions and submitted it to the US side.

"Until these questions are clarified, no participation of Azerbaijan in any mission is foreseen. Thank you for this question, because there is a lot of speculation in the foreign press on this topic - especially when a senior official of the American diplomacy makes such irresponsible and false statements. This has given me the opportunity to convey our position on this issue to both our domestic and international public," Aliyev said./ CNA