Azerbaijan Moves to Defuse Israel-Turkey Tensions After Syria Airbase Strike

Israeli sources say Azerbaijan is working behind the scenes to lower tensions between Israel and Turkey after Israel's strike on Syria's Abu al-Duhur airbase. President Ilham Aliyev had opened direct dialogue during an earlier crisis, after which Israel and Turkey established an operational coordination mechanism for Syria. A source familiar with the effort said Baku is deeply concerned because both countries are its partners. The United States is also seeking de-escalation, while Israeli officials have expressed distrust of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack's handling of the crisis.