As a result of the ongoing military escalation in the Middle East, immediately after the closure of the airspace of the Gulf countries, urgent measures were initiated for the evacuation of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan remaining in those countries.
Modern.az reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding this.
It was reported that, based on the instructions given to our diplomatic missions in the Gulf countries, the registration of our citizens for evacuation was carried out.
According to the results of the initial registration, approximately 1000 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan applied for evacuation in 5 countries (United Arab Emirates: 490 people, Saudi Arabia: 220 people, State of Qatar: 200 people, Kingdom of Bahrain: 23 people, State of Kuwait: 26 people).
As a result of negotiations conducted by our country's Consulate General in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the main tourist destinations for citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and particularly in the city of Dubai, with the "FlyDubai" airline, flights on the Dubai-Baku route commenced after the UAE airspace was partially reopened. With flights carried out on the aforementioned route between March 3-5, 755 Azerbaijani citizens returned to the country. Currently, considering that UAE airspace is again closed, necessary planning work is underway to repatriate the remaining Azerbaijani citizens to our country.
Regarding Saudi Arabia, the second main direction requiring evacuation, on March 4, 2026, 193 citizens of Azerbaijan (additionally, 9 Azerbaijani citizens who are citizens of Georgia and 5 Azerbaijani citizens who are citizens of Russia) (total 207 people) were evacuated to our country from Jeddah city by a special flight belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines. Furthermore, the transportation of our citizens registered in the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia to Jeddah was carried out by relevant buses organized by our diplomatic missions, and 203 people (including 2 Azerbaijani citizens who are citizens of Russia and 1 Azerbaijani citizen who is a citizen of Georgia) were evacuated to our country on March 7, 2026, via an AZAL Jeddah-Baku flight, returning to our country.
To enable our citizens in the Islamic Republic of Iran to cross into our country by land without hindrance, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan made a decision and instructions were given to the relevant state bodies. To date, 300 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan have arrived in Azerbaijan from Iran by land.
The situation in the region is being closely monitored by us, and necessary measures are being taken for the evacuation of our citizens.
