Azerbaijan brokering calm between Israel and Turkey in Syria

Azerbaijan is trying to help calm tensions between Israel and Turkey in Syria, according to a report today (Thursday) from Channel 12 News.

Israel reportedly confirmed that it was working on a deconfliction channel with Turkey to avoid any possible escalation or lethal clashes as both countries establish a military presence in the country, each for their own reasons.

The talks are being brokered by Azerbaijan, a country in the Caucasus region friendly to both countries. According to Azeri president Ilham Aliyev, who revealed the fact of the talks yesterday at a conference, "with Turkey we are allies, and Israel is a friendly country to Azerbaijan, and for many years, this mutual friendship proved itself in difficult times for both of us. Therefore, the tension between these two countries is very worrisome for us."

Azerbaijan has become a very close ally of Israel in the past several years, especially in everything regarding operations against Iran, a common enemy and rival to both. The Mossad reportedly has a very strong presence there, conducting operations against Iran. Israel also reportedly plans to use Azerbaijan as either a place to fly over in the event of a direct strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.