BAKU (Realist English). Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev began distancing himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin following the fall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, according to opposition leader Ali Karimli.
Speaking to Newsweek, Karimli — chair of the Popular Front Party and a former state secretary — argued that Aliyev “started to realise that Russia no longer holds the power it once did, given that it failed to protect even its key ally.”
According to Karimli, the Azerbaijani leadership took note of how quickly Turkey and Western powers filled the vacuum — not only in Syria, but across the wider region. “While Putin saw Assad’s fall as a major defeat, Aliyev publicly called it a positive development, thereby signaling a deliberate step away from Moscow,” he said.
Karimli described Aliyev as a “dictator” who has concluded that “close ties with Russia could carry more risks than open defiance.” The comments reflect a growing narrative within the Azerbaijani opposition that Moscow’s diminishing influence is prompting former allies to reassess their strategic alignments.
