Herzog’s office announced on Saturday that he was canceling his planned visit to Baku, saying the decision was due to “security considerations.”However, according to a Sunday report on the Ynet news site, officials in Azerbaijan took exception to the suggestion that their country was not safe for Herzog to visit, and said the real reason for the cancelation was Turkey’s refusal. Israeli officials were cited as saying that the cancelation was indeed due to security assessments, but that they at no point had said there was a security problem in Azerbaijan itself.
Azerbaijan, an Israeli ally, is bordered by Iran to the south, and a direct flight to Baku from Israel would either have to fly over Syria, Iraq and Iran, which is not possible, or over the Mediterranean Sea and through Turkey and Georgia. (Read More)
