The Israeli government’s decision Sunday to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide has drawn a rare wave of criticism from Azerbaijan, one of Israel’s closest allies, Middle East Eye reports.

In an official statement, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry called Israel’s decision a matter of “serious concern.”

The ministry said this recognition was a “distortion of the historical facts” and “the reduction of a complex historical issue to a political decision.”

The statement added that this decision, taken without a “sound legal or scholarly basis” is unacceptable.

“Such actions do not contribute to reconciliation or mutual understanding. Instead, they deepen existing divisions and undermine efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region,” the statement also said.

Also, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry called on the Israeli government to reconsider this decision.

Azerbaijan and Israel have close relations. Baku is one of Israel’s largest oil suppliers, and Israel, in turn, supplies the Azerbaijani government with modern weapons.

Last year, Baku tried to ease tensions caused by the situation in Syria and the Gaza Strip.

Azerbaijan has expressed doubts about participating in international forces in Gaza.

Turkey and Azerbaijan consider each other close allies. According to the Shushi Declaration, signed in 2021, the two countries undertake to assist each other in the event of an attack by a third country.

During the second Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, both Turkey and Israel supported Azerbaijan, when Baku returned significant territories previously under Armenian control.

The aforesaid Israeli decision is currently only a government position. It must be approved by the country’s parliament, the Knesset, to become an official state position.

Dunya Basol, a researcher specializing in Israeli issues, said that Azerbaijan may try to put pressure on Israel to block the adoption of a corresponding resolution in the Knesset.

It is also surprising that the Israeli Knesset could ignore Azerbaijan’s sensitivity on this issue and proceed from the assumption that the Azerbaijan-Turkey alliance is a normal alliance, Basol said.

In a separate statement released on Sunday, Turkey said that this Israeli move is a convenient way to distract public attention from the fact that the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other Israeli officials for alleged crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, Israel is engaged in proceedings at the UN International Court of Justice on genocide charges.