Azerbaijan slams ally Israel’s recognition of Armenian genocide: ‘Distortion of historical facts’

Azerbaijan on Monday condemned Israel’s recognition of the Armenian genocide, calling it a “distortion of the historical facts,” and urged the government to reverse the move.

Israel formally recognized the 1915 Armenian genocide for the first time Sunday amid the collapse in its ties with Turkey, which denies that the World War I-era atrocities constitute a genocide.

Azerbaijan, which has fought multiple rounds of conflict with neighboring Armenia, takes the same position as Turkey.

However, unlike Ankara, Baku has maintained close relations with Israel and has been a key regional partner to Jerusalem in recent years. Israel, which is very reliant on Azerbaijani oil, is a major arms supplier to Baku.

“The decision by the Israeli government concerning the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’ is a matter of serious concern,” Baku’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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“The distortion of the historical facts surrounding the events of 1915, and the reduction of a complex historical issue to a political decision without a sound legal or scholarly basis, are unacceptable,” Baku said.

The statement added: “Such actions do not contribute to reconciliation or mutual understanding. Instead, they deepen existing divisions and undermine efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region.”

“We call on the Israeli government to reconsider this decision,” it said.

The Israeli government voted Sunday to recognize the Armenian genocide in a move that was sure to antagonize Turkey, which accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza but fiercely denies the charge applies to the Ottoman Empire’s wholesale killing of Armenians during World War I.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X after the bill passed unanimously that “it’s never too late to do the right thing.”

“Israel joins 32 countries that have fulfilled a moral duty by recognizing the historical truth, and rejecting attempts to deny it,” Sa’ar wrote.

In a bid to avoid tension with Turkey, Israel had long refrained from using the word “genocide” to refer to the campaign of massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation that the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s forerunner, committed against Armenians in the empire’s final years.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and has long denied that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.

Israel’s already strained ties with Turkey tanked after the Hamas terror group invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who supports Hamas, has compared Israel’s actions to those of Nazi Germany, and all but cut his country’s once-robust trade ties with Israel. Israel fiercely denies the charge of genocide in Gaza.

Amid the rupture with Turkey, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said for the first time in August 2025 that he recognizes the Armenian genocide. Ankara accused him at the time of seeking “to exploit past tragedies for political motives.”

Asked at a press conference Saturday night if he supports the Armenian genocide recognition bill, Netanyahu said: “I certainly support it.”

Netanyahu, who is Israel’s longest-serving premier, said he had never tried to block recognition of the genocide, and declined to comment on whether there was concern about Turkey’s reaction to the move.

Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.