By exporting pure gasoline to Syria for the primary time in historical past, Azerbaijan is reshaping the geopolitical and vitality panorama of the Middle East. What as soon as appeared inconceivable—a South Caucasus nation fueling war-torn Syria—has develop into a actuality. Starting August 2, Azerbaijani gasoline will start flowing into Aleppo, and from there, presumably deeper into the Syrian heartland. This is not only an vitality deal. It is a transparent sign: Baku is rising as a critical geopolitical participant past its conventional orbit.
Until now, Azerbaijani gasoline has been related to European markets. Through the Southern Gas Corridor and different strategic pipelines, Baku positioned itself as a dependable different to Russian vitality. But the provision path to Syria opens a brand new chapter—one the place Azerbaijani hydrocarbons serve not simply markets, however reconstruction, affect, and diplomacy.
Türkiye is central to this pivot. Acting because the transit nation, Ankara facilitated the deal by enabling gasoline circulate by means of Kilis into Syria. The settlement was reached in coordination with Qatar, which financed the pipeline infrastructure. According to Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, 6 million cubic meters of gasoline per day—round 2 billion cubic meters per 12 months—can be provided to Syria, initially powering the Aleppo area and probably reaching Damascus and Homs. It’s a lifeline for Syria’s devastated vitality grid, which has struggled for years to offer even primary electrical energy.
Turkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar/Reuters
The political backdrop is equally vital. President Ilham Aliyev’s assembly with Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Baku on July 12 set the stage. A memorandum of understanding between SOCAR and the Syrian authorities was signed the identical day. But the discussions had begun months earlier—again in April, in Antalya—the place the Syrian aspect expressed curiosity in involving Azerbaijan within the restoration of Syria’s vitality sector and even invited SOCAR to discover oil and gasoline fields within the northeast, presently beneath the management of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
This just isn’t charity. It’s technique.
Azerbaijan is investing an estimated $400–600 million in Syria’s vitality infrastructure. A three way partnership between SOCAR and Türkiye’s BOTAŞ additionally goals to discover and develop new reserves and spend money on petrochemicals. These strikes align with President Aliyev’s broader imaginative and prescient: positioning Azerbaijan not simply as an vitality provider, however as a cross-border investor, operator, and shaper of regional vitality dynamics.
Critically, this initiative aligns with Türkiye’s ambitions to develop into a regional vitality hub. The Kilis–Aleppo pipeline—initially envisioned as a part of the Arab Gas Pipeline—was accomplished in 2011, however its potential remained dormant for over a decade. The geopolitical local weather has shifted. With Nabucco lifeless, the Southern Gas Corridor full, and Syria in want, the second has arrived to re-activate long-forgotten infrastructure for brand new strategic ends.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev welcomes his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Al-Sharaa to Baku, Azerbaijan on July 12, 2025. (Photo by way of Azerbaijani presidency)
The Russian vitality portal Neftegaz has already referred to as this a “game changer” for the area. Experts consider that secure vitality provide to Syria’s industrial and civilian sectors may catalyze broader financial restoration. And if gasoline reaches Damascus and Homs, the impression may prolong effectively past energy crops—it may foster a brand new sort of interdependence throughout the area.
But there’s extra. Israeli outlet Globes suggests a deeper ambition: that Azerbaijan may finally join, by way of Syria, to Israel’s gasoline pipeline infrastructure. Israel is already linked to Jordan, and Jordan to Syria and Lebanon by means of the Arab Gas Pipeline. Connecting Homs to Türkiye would require solely about 150 kilometers of latest infrastructure. According to Globes, Azerbaijan is reportedly prepared to speculate $200 million to make this hyperlink doable.
If realized, this could be nothing in need of revolutionary. It would tie the South Caucasus, the Middle East, and the Eastern Mediterranean right into a single, versatile gasoline grid—enabling flows not solely from Azerbaijan however probably to Azerbaijan as effectively, relying on geopolitical wants. It would additionally carry new that means to vitality diplomacy in a area the place battle has too typically overshadowed cooperation.
Importantly, Azerbaijan is not content material with being simply an exporter of uncooked supplies. Its current acquisition of a ten% stake in Israel’s offshore Tamar gasoline area is proof of its ambitions to develop into a worldwide participant within the vitality enterprise. From exploration to infrastructure, from Europe to the Levant, Baku is leveraging its oil and gasoline know-how as a software of overseas coverage.
What’s rising is a brand new sample of vitality geopolitics—one the place energy is not outlined solely by reserves or output, however by the power to attach, make investments, and reply to complicated regional wants. In that respect, the Azerbaijani gasoline provide to Syria just isn’t a footnote—it’s a preview of a future vitality order formed much less by blocs and extra by bridges.
This is a daring experiment. But if profitable, it may mark the beginning of a extra built-in and interdependent Middle East—powered, fairly actually, by Baku.
By Tural Heybatov
