Category: Azer News

In the modern era, as the global energy map is rapidly changing and carbon neutrality targets and the transition to renewable energy are accelerating, a vital question stands before crude oil producers: Is it possible to ensure long-term economic sustainability by selling only hydrocarbon resources? The strategic steps taken by the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in the Turkish market have already been giving a clear and unequivocal answer to this question for years: No, the real future lies in the petrochemical sector that creates high added value.

The information contained in a report by international rating agency ‘Fitch Ratings’ these days once again turned the attention of global and regional economic circles to the Aegean coast. SOCAR’s work on a new giant investment program worth $7 billion in Turkiye and its plan to make the Final Investment Decision (FID) by the end of 2026 is not an ordinary business expansion. It is a clear indication that the geoeconomic partnership between Baku and Ankara has entered a qualitatively new, deeper and more strategic stage.

To understand the essence of Azerbaijan’s move, it is first necessary to look at Turkiye’s industrial structure and current economic landscape. Turkiye is currently one of the largest manufacturing centers in Europe and the Middle East. From the automotive industry to textiles, agricultural packaging to construction and medical equipment, hundreds of sectors depend on polyolefins – polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) – in their daily operations. However, despite its rich industrial potential, Turkiye’s domestic production of petrochemical raw materials meets only around 10 percent of demand. The sector’s only integrated domestic producer is the ‘Petkim’ complex, which is wholly owned by SOCAR.

This major imbalance causes an annual outflow of around $5-7 billion in foreign currency from Turkiye – a current deficit. Raw materials transported from countries such as Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Iran and Russia create vulnerability in the domestic market to price fluctuations and logistical risks. It is precisely at this point that SOCAR’s new $7 billion production facilities project will serve as a vital breath of fresh air for the Turkish economy. The new complex will sharply reduce foreign dependence in the domestic market, ensure that billions of dollars remain within the country and strengthen the competitiveness of Turkish industry.

But what does this giant capital investment mean for Azerbaijan? If we look at the issue only through the prism of ‘support for the brotherly country,’ we would miss the analytical and economic depth of the process. This project is part of Baku’s completely cool-headed, far-sighted and rational foreign investment strategy.

First, the issue is about moving from being a raw material seller to creating value throughout the chain. Selling crude oil or simple petroleum products on the global market leaves companies dependent on sharp fluctuations in commodity prices. However, when a chain is established from crude oil to naphtha, from naphtha to polymers, and from polymers to final industrial products, added value and higher profit margins are formed at every stage. SOCAR’s $6.3 billion STAR Refinery currently produces naphtha, the main raw material for the petrochemical sector. The construction of the new $7 billion polyolefin facilities, meanwhile, will directly process the naphtha produced by the STAR Refinery on site and turn it into finished products. This is a classic and perfect synergy: SOCAR fully closes its processing chain and creates a 100 percent guaranteed domestic sales market for its product.

Second, this move is an important pillar of Azerbaijan’s preparation strategy for the post-oil era. At a time when Azerbaijan’s domestic oil production has naturally entered a period of decline, assets formed abroad – particularly in a stable market such as Turkiye, where geopolitical risks are at their lowest – mean a long-term, stable dividend flow for the state budget and the State Oil Fund. This is the diversification of oil revenues and the creation of a financial safety cushion for future generations.

SOCAR’s total investments in Turkiye already exceeding $19 billion and approaching $26 billion with the new project represents an unparalleled model in the global energy market. This model shows that economic integration does not consist only of transporting gas and oil through pipelines; true integration means becoming the industrial backbone of the partner country.

As a result, the $7 billion project, for which the Final Investment Decision is expected to be made by the end of 2026, will not only change the statistical indicators of the chemical industry. This investment will raise Azerbaijan’s position on the global petrochemical map to a qualitatively new level, make an unprecedented contribution to Turkiye’s industrial independence, and make the economic foundation of the Strategic Partnership Declaration between Baku and Ankara unshakable.

The 46th Chess Olympiad is set to begin on September 16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Azerbaijan’s men’s team includes Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Rauf Mamedov, Aydin Suleymanli, Mahammad Muradli and Eltaj Safarli.

The women’s team comprises Ulviyya Fataliyeva, Gunay Mammadzada, Govhar Beydullayeva, Khanim Balajayeva and Gulnar Mammadova.

In the opening round, Azerbaijan’s men’s team will face Morocco, while the women’s team will play against Guatemala. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ulviyya Fataliyeva will sit out the first round.

The Chess Olympiad will be played under the Swiss system over 11 rounds and will conclude on September 27.

A total of 1,032 players representing 208 teams are taking part in the tournament.

Following the gala concert at the Auditorium Stravinski, a concert programme dedicated to Azerbaijani jazz has been presented as part of the Septembre Musical Montreux-Vevey festival in Switzerland.

Renowned jazz pianist and composer Isfar Sarabski performed with his trio, featuring double bass player Makar Novikov and drummer Amir Bresler.

The programme included Sarabski’s compositions “Horses of Garabagh”, “Around the Thread”, “BTS (Behind Train Station) Blues”, “Planet” and “G-Man”, as well as a jazz arrangement of Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”. Tar player Shahriyar Imanov joined the trio for “Horses of Garabagh”.

The concert also featured Azerbaijani musical works performed by well-known singers. Honored Artist Sevda Alakbarzade performed Said Rustamov’s “Hardasan”, while Ilkin Dovlatov sang the Azerbaijani folk song “Ay Lachin”.

The programme combined Azerbaijan’s musical traditions with contemporary jazz improvisation, introducing the Montreux audience to the distinctive musical language and expressive range of Azerbaijani jazz.

Azerbaijan’s participation in the festival concluded with a diverse cultural programme covering national dance, classical music, mugham and jazz.

The performances presented the richness of the country’s musical heritage alongside contemporary approaches to performance.

The new concert season at the International Mugham Center has opened with an evening of Azerbaijani mugham, featuring performances by well-known khanandas and instrumentalists.

The first “Mugham Evening” concert of the season featured Honored Artists Elnur Zeynalov and Sevinj Sariyeva, as well as soloists Elgiz Aliyev, Konul Khalilzada, Huseyn Malikov and Zumrud Mammadova.

The khanandas were accompanied by Rashad Ibrahimov on tar, Elnur Mammadov on kamancha, Mehta Mahammadalizada on kanun, Huseyn Alakbarli on balaban, Amil Mustafayev on naghara and Vasif Yusublu on oud.

The programme included the “Segah”, “Dashti”, “Rast”, “Dilkash”, “Chahargah” and “Shur” tasnifs.

The concert gave listeners an opportunity to hear different mugham traditions and styles of performance. The combination of vocals and traditional instruments also reflected the characteristic sound of Azerbaijani mugham.

“Mugham Evening” is a regular project of the International Mugham Center. The project is dedicated to promoting mugham, preserving its performance traditions and introducing audiences to different mugham schools and professional performers.

The International Mugham Center is one of the country’s leading cultural landmarks.

The venue was established on the initiative of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan and President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, in accordance with the presidential decree dated April 6, 2005.

The center, which laid its foundation that same year and is known as one of Baku’s unique architectural projects, opened its doors in 2008.

The design of the building was based on the elements and shapes of the tar, an Azerbaijani musical instrument used in performing mugham. The center was built with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

In 2024, the Mugham Center became the first cultural institution in Azerbaijan to be awarded “international” status by legislation.

The Center regularly organizes large-scale music festivals and concerts by highly acclaimed cultural figures.

It also takes important steps towards bolstering cultural ties with Turkiye, Poland, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Morocco, and other countries.

The International Mugham Center is determined to further expand its work and promote Azerbaijani musical culture.

Numerous projects are being carried out by the center in the direction of studying and promoting mugham art, including “Evening of Mugham Music”, aimed at preserving, developing, and promoting Azerbaijan’s rich classical and spiritual musical heritage.

The Nazareth District Court has sentenced Israeli settler Denis Mukin to 22 years in prison for the killing of 19-year-old Palestinian Diar al-Omari during a road-rage confrontation in May 2023.

The court on Tuesday also ordered Mukin to pay NIS 258,000 to Omari’s estate, barred him from holding a driving license for three years and confiscated the Glock pistol used in the shooting.

Mukin’s sentence was applied retroactively from May 6, 2023, the date of his arrest.

The court convicted Mukin last December of murder with indifference, finding that he knowingly disregarded the possibility that his actions could result in Omari’s death. A majority of the three-judge panel concluded that prosecutors had not established beyond a reasonable doubt that Mukin had intended to kill Omari.

Judge Osaila Abu-Assad dissented on that point, arguing that Mukin should have been convicted of intentional murder. The judges were unanimous, however, in imposing the 22-year sentence.

Road-rage confrontation

According to the court’s findings, Mukin was driving while disqualified and under the influence of alcohol and cannabis when he encountered Omari on a road leading toward Gan Ner, south of Afula, on May 6, 2023.

The two men did not know each other. Mukin became angry over Omari’s driving and unsuccessfully attempted to overtake him.

Following an exchange between the two drivers, Mukin stopped his vehicle, exited while carrying his pistol and fired several rounds into the air.

A physical struggle subsequently broke out, during which Mukin fired two shots that struck Omari. One of the bullets entered Omari’s chest and passed through his heart and lungs, causing his death.

When Omari attempted to retreat toward his vehicle, Mukin fired three additional shots, all of which missed.

The court found that after Omari collapsed, Mukin crossed the road, looked at him and left the scene without providing assistance or contacting emergency services.

Mukin later returned with his sister after asking her to tell police that she had been driving. The court found that he did so in an attempt to conceal that he had been driving while intoxicated and while his license was suspended. His sister initially provided police with that account but withdrew it shortly afterward.

Mukin was also convicted of driving while disqualified, two counts of driving while intoxicated, inducing another person to obstruct an investigation and intentionally damaging a vehicle.

Prosecution sought life sentence

Prosecutors had requested a life sentence, arguing that the killing stemmed from a trivial road dispute and demonstrated Mukin’s willingness to use a firearm.

They proposed a sentencing range of 26 years to life, citing, among other factors, the additional shots Mukin fired after Omari had already been wounded.

The defense requested a sentence of between 14 and 18 years and argued that the circumstances were consistent with self-defense, although Mukin had not relied on that argument during the trial.

The Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition reported the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces had intercepted a drone attempting to enter the airspace over Mecca.

Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Arab coalition, said in a post on social media X that Saudi air defense forces detected a drone launched by the Houthis before it entered the restricted airspace over Mecca.

According to al-Maliki, the drone was intercepted and destroyed south of Mecca.

The Houthis had denied claims that the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, particularly Mecca, were under threat from Yemen.

Al Masirah, a Houthi-affiliated television channel, quoted a military source in Houthi-controlled Sana’a as saying that there was no threat to Mecca from Yemen.

Mecca, home to ?shrines sacred to Muslims worldwide, is Islam’s holiest city and the ?focal point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars ?of Islam, which millions of Muslims undertake each year.

Saudi Arabia issued security alerts ?across parts of the country on Tuesday, including in Mecca and other cities, ?a week of attacks by fighters that have drawn the kingdom deeper into the Middle East war.

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict.

Thaçi, 58, was found guilty of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention linked to crimes committed while he was a senior commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the conflict with Serbian forces, according to sources.

The court found that 96 people were killed, 303 were subjected to torture, and 385 were unlawfully detained in crimes for which Thaçi was held criminally responsible. The victims included people perceived as political opponents or collaborators, including Kosovo Albanians and members of ethnic minorities.

The trial concerned events between March 1998 and September 1999 in several locations across Kosovo as well as in Kukës and Cahan in northern Albania. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers said the case involved allegations of crimes committed by KLA members against civilians and people who were not taking part in hostilities.

Thaçi, who served as Kosovo’s president from 2016 until his resignation in 2020, has denied the charges. He was transferred to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers’ detention facilities in The Hague in November 2020 after his indictment was confirmed.

The verdict marks a major development in the long-running international prosecution of former senior KLA figures. The trial of Thaçi and three other former KLA commanders began in April 2023. The evidentiary proceedings were completed in December 2025 after 134 witnesses testified in court, with closing statements delivered in February 2026.

The court’s ruling comes more than two decades after the end of the Kosovo war and places the wartime conduct of the KLA’s former leadership under renewed international scrutiny.

The United Kingdom is actively exploring the possibility of joining the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), which is being established to finance defense projects in NATO countries.

According to Financial Times, the participation in the DSRB could help London achieve its goal of increasing defense spending to 3 percent of GDP.

The bank is reportedly planned to be headquartered in Montreal and could raise up to $134 billion to finance military projects.

The DSRB is a multilateral bank aimed at providing cheaper loans to fund defence projects. Albania, Belgium, Greece, Canada, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Trkiye and Ukraine have also expressed their intention to participate in the initiative.

Membership of the bank for the UK and other G7 countries would come with an upfront investment cost of around £870m spread over three years.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is also travelling to the UK for his first meeting with the prime minister.

The government has so far avoided committing to raising defence spending to 3% of national income by 2030, only repeating the longer term goal of 3.5% by 2035.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and Israel to protest plans to develop oil fields near the disputed Falkland Islands (Malvinas) without Buenos Aires’ authorization.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry said the envoys were called in to receive formal notes of protest in person.

“Argentina’s Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of Israel to personally deliver formal notes of protest. During the meetings, objections were raised to the advancement of the Sea Lion project and all activities related to it,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also criticized the British authorities for issuing guidance concerning business activities in the disputed territory.

“Through this guidance, the United Kingdom intends to promote illegal commercial activities and hydrocarbon production in the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as well as in the surrounding maritime areas,” it added.

According to the Argentine authorities, the UK’s actions constitute an “open violation” of UN General Assembly Resolution 31/49. The resolution calls on Argentina and the United Kingdom to refrain from unilateral actions affecting the situation around the islands until the process aimed at resolving the sovereignty dispute peacefully has been completed.

The Malvinas (Falkland) Islands consist of two main islands and nearly 800 smaller ones, covering an area of just over 12,000 square kilometers and home to around 3,200 people. They have been at the center of a territorial dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom for nearly 200 years.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday that Israel currently represents the “greatest threat” to Syria’s stability because it is threatened by “strong” neighboring countries.

“The threat with the greatest potential to destabilize Syria at the moment is Israel. Thankfully, other issues concerning Syria have been moving in a positive direction for the past two years … But Israel doesn’t particularly like neighboring countries being strong and stable. It sees this as a threat to itself. Because of how it defines this threat, it engages in destabilizing actions against these countries,” Fidan told reporters during his visit to Damascus, where he met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The Turkish foreign minister also claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “sees all the countries around Israel as threats,” despite Syria only wanting to “live in peace in its region.”