A coordinated diplomatic boycott unfolded at the CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia) summit in Baku on Thursday when delegates from several regional states walked out of the plenary hall during an address by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Envoys representing Iran, Turkey, Kuwait, Pakistan, and the Palestinian Authority abruptly vacated their seats as the Israeli head of state took the podium. However, in a stark and unexpected contrast, the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, remained in his seat and listened to the address.
1+The high-level summit convened as a multinational forum dedicated to regional security, cross-border cooperation, and multilateral dialogue among Asian states. Delegates from global and regional powers sat alongside President Herzog, including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The presence of Israeli and Iranian delegations in the same forum underscored the extraordinary nature of the event amid persistent regional warfare and heightened diplomatic frictions.
The confrontation inside the hall followed earlier scrutiny regarding the logistics of President Herzog’s arrival in Azerbaijan. According to a report by Middle East Eye, Herzog reached Baku aboard a scheduled commercial flight operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), crossing straight through Turkish airspace unhindered. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the journey was completed on flight J222 from Ben Gurion Airport aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
1+Ankara has barred official Israeli government aircraft from using Turkish sovereign airspace since 2024; however, the regulation does not apply to civilian commercial carriers. By choosing a scheduled civilian flight, Herzog’s delegation could follow a direct route rather than take a prolonged detour over Greece, Bulgaria, and the Black Sea. A Turkish official told Middle East Eye that Baku did not notify Ankara of the Israeli president’s presence on the airliner, noting that authorities cannot review passenger manifests for every commercial transit flight over Turkish skies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not attend the summit in person and instead dispatched Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
The coordinated walkout by hostile and non-aligned delegations highlighted deep ideological fractures at the summit, while the Qatari emir’s decision to remain seated drew immediate scrutiny from regional observers, offering a striking counterpoint to the choreographed exit of the Iranian and Turkish representatives.