July 27, 2025
Why Azerbaijan Belongs in the Abraham Accords. Joseph Epstein Comments for the Jerusalem Post
Joseph Epstein of the Turan Research Center at the Yorktown Institute argues that bringing Azerbaijan into the Accords would signal to Muslim majority states in Central Asia such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that open cooperation with Israel is both possible and worthwhile. It would also squeeze Tehran which sees a secular Shia state aligned with Israel and Turkey as a strategic problem.
Epstein also cautions against tying Azerbaijan’s entry to unrelated conditions like a peace deal with Armenia because that would undercut the spirit of the Accords and risk a fragile process in the South Caucasus. The Accords were built to unite Muslim countries that choose tolerance and reject extremism. Armenia is not part of that track and forcing it in would be counterproductive.
Read the full article on the Jerusalem Post.
Joseph Epstein is the Director of the Turan Research Center and a Senior Fellow at the Yorktown Institute.