The wider question of how Azerbaijanis will or should interpret Egyptian protestors’ ongoing struggle against Mubarak appears to be gaining increasing currency among critics of Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev and many young Azerbaijanis.
Ties between the two countries largely hinge on energy – the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic, or SOCAR, is involved in the oil trade and processing in Egypt – and on good works. First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, head of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, serves on the board of the Alexandria Library and has a secondary school named in her honor in the Cairo suburb of Qaulubiyya, which contains a monument to the late President Heydar Aliyev.
The two countries’ first ladies also both appeared in a pop song dedicated to peace, written by Egyptian First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and performed by the Azerbaijani singer Tunzale Agayeva.
