https://www.scmp.com/rss/522793/feed The latest news and top stories on Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s leader since 2003. He previously served as Prime Minister and held key roles at SOCAR, the state oil company, where he was instrumental in oil strategy and developing Western ties. He holds a PhD in history. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Azerbaijan on Monday sentenced a Frenchman to 10 years in prison in an espionage case launched during a period of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku that have now eased. Martin Ryan was arrested in December 2023 and went on trial in January last year, when relations between Azerbaijan and France had deteriorated to new lows over Paris’ support for Armenia, Baku’s long-time rival. The court found him guilty of spying against Azerbaijan and sentenced him to 10 years. Prosecutors had sought... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346788/frenchman-jailed-10-years-azerbaijan-im-not-spy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346788/frenchman-jailed-10-years-azerbaijan-im-not-spy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:54:18 +0000 Cao Jiaxuan Cao Jiaxuan Central Asian governments are leveraging the diplomatic fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran to assert their autonomy and reinforce their long-standing strategy of balancing major powers, according to analysts. For decades, the five former Soviet republics have been seen as Russia’s “backyard”. However, as the conflict in Iran deepens, these nations are moving to recalibrate their geopolitical ties, signalling a shift away from their role as a passive buffer zone for great powers. The shift... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346611/beyond-buffer-zone-how-iran-war-recalibrating-central-asian-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3346611/beyond-buffer-zone-how-iran-war-recalibrating-central-asian-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 06:00:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse President Emmanuel Macron will visit Cyprus on Monday, his office said, as France deploys warships to the Mediterranean following a drone attack on the island EU member days ago. Macron will meet his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos to show “solidarity” and detail moves to “strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean”, the Elysee said on Sunday. The visit will take place as the war pitting the US and Israel... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345905/macron-visit-cyprus-france-deploys-warships-mediterranean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345905/macron-visit-cyprus-france-deploys-warships-mediterranean?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:54:36 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain What began as a US-Israeli assault on Iran is rapidly evolving into a conflict with the potential to spread far beyond the Middle East. Iranian missiles and drones have already struck or reached Turkey and Azerbaijan, while European powers are rushing additional warships, fighter jets and air defences to the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf to contain the fallout. Analysts warn the longer the war continues, the greater the risk that long-simmering regional fault lines – from Kurdish militancy to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345689/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345689/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 07:00:09 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain US President Donald Trump declared the war in Gaza “over” at his inaugural “Board of Peace” meeting on Thursday, even as regional analysts warned that Israeli military operations could resume within weeks. At the gathering in Washington, attended by senior officials from more than 20 countries, promises of reconstruction and a “bright future” for Gaza were coupled with blunt US warnings that the alternative to disarmament would be a return to war. Outside the meeting, Israeli officials... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344087/trump-says-gaza-war-over-analysts-warn-fighting-could-resume-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3344087/trump-says-gaza-war-over-analysts-warn-fighting-could-resume-within-weeks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 05:33:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his “Board of Peace” to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body that could eventually rival the United Nations – despite many US allies opting not to participate. In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future for the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3340873/world-trump-launches-his-board-peace-some-see-rivalling-un?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3340873/world-trump-launches-his-board-peace-some-see-rivalling-un?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:43:33 +0000 Reuters Reuters Turkey on Wednesday said 20 of its soldiers were killed when a military transport plane crashed in Georgia a day earlier, marking the Nato member’s deadliest military incident since 2020. The C-130 cargo aircraft left Azerbaijan for Turkey and crashed in Georgia on Tuesday, leaving chunks of twisted metal strewn across a grassy knoll. Ankara has not provided a reason for the crash, but said Turkish and Georgian authorities have started inspections at the site, located in the Sighnaghu... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332396/turkish-military-plane-crashes-georgia-least-20-board?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332396/turkish-military-plane-crashes-georgia-least-20-board?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Nov 2025 16:48:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin told Azerbaijan’s leader that two Russian missiles had detonated beside an Azerbaijan Airlines plane last year after Ukrainian drones entered Russian airspace, and promised compensation to those affected. Flight J2-8243, en route from Baku to the Chechen capital Grozny, crash-landed on December 25, near Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia, where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several targets. At least 38 people were... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3328417/putin-admits-russian-missiles-downed-azerbaijan-airlines-flight-last-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3328417/putin-admits-russian-missiles-downed-azerbaijan-airlines-flight-last-year?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:12:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump’s obsession with winning the Nobel Peace Prize next month may have hit a hitch - the stubborn independence of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which insisted that it cannot be swayed. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has made it clear he wants the prestigious accolade, which his Democratic rival Barack Obama won to the surprise of many shortly after taking office in 2009. The 79-year-old billionaire has taken every opportunity to say he “deserves it”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325300/trumps-push-nobel-peace-prize-wont-sway-us-says-committee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325300/trumps-push-nobel-peace-prize-wont-sway-us-says-committee?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Sep 2025 06:02:20 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Once bound by history to Iran and Russia, Azerbaijan has been actively reconfiguring relationships with its neighbours in a bid to stake a claim as a major player in Eurasia – even at the cost of ratcheting up diplomatic friction with its former colonial rulers. Emboldened by the decisive seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia in 2023, Baku has drawn on a web of diverse strategic partnerships to assert its autonomy. No longer content to be a subordinate neighbour, Azerbaijan is pushing back... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317921/how-azerbaijan-defies-russia-and-iran-eurasias-new-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317921/how-azerbaijan-defies-russia-and-iran-eurasias-new-order?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2025 09:00:07 +0000