Evolution of Israel-Azerbaijan military cooperation in 1994-2014
In 1994, the Bishkek Protocol was signed. Although it implies the cease-fire in the conflict zone, the confrontation between Azerbaijan and Armenia did not come to the end. Taking into consideration the fact that Armenia managed to occupy Nagorny Karabakh and seven neighbour regions, the new Azerbaijani governing body headed by G. Aliev had to deal with issues concerning development of military capability. Many states, including Russia, did not want to cooperate with Baku in military sphere, refusing to sell it different weapon systems. The aid was delivered by Israel. Teaming with Israel Azerbaijan turns to be one of secular states with Islam as dominating religion, which back Israel on the international arena. This fact is extremely important because recently the number of such states has declined. Thus, since Turkish Justice and Development Party has been in power we witness chilly relations between Turkey and Israel. The future of collaboration with Egypt is doubtful as well. Due to cooperation with Israel Azerbaijan was the first among post-Soviet states to gain access to modern military technology. It contributes both to strengthening of military capacity of Azerbaijani military forces, which strive to win the region back from Armenia, and growth of Israeli companies' income. Nowadays the process of strengthening and expanding Israeli-Azerbaijani cooperation in military sphere continues. It is clear it has huge potential. The main reason is that Israeli competitors, acting on Azerbaijani arms market - Russia, Turkey, Belarus, Ukraine, Pakistan, etc. - do not have even analogues of the military systems delivered by Israel.