Azerbaijan: Baku Hints at Retaliatory Steps, If Turkey and Armenia Mend Ties

After US President Barack Obama's call for a normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev asserted that any reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border could prompt Azerbaijan to change its "regional policy."

In a speech leavened with not-so-subtle cautions for longtime ally Turkey, Aliyev told Azerbaijan's National Security Council on April 6 that Baku is "tracing potential geopolitical shifts in the region and we are taking relevant measures."

Aliyev added that Azerbaijan's oil and gas export policy will remain "flexible" and driven by national interests -- an apparent thinly veiled reminder to Turkey about Baku's ability to choose between Turkey-based and Russia-based supply routes for its hydrocarbon products.

He added that "Azerbaijan has never interfered and will never interfere with [the] bilateral ties of other countries," Turan news agency reported.

Aliyev earlier snubbed an offer to participate in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Dialogue of Civilizations held on April 6 in Turkey.