Israeli president's visit "big impetus" to development of ties with Azerbaijan - Ilham Aliyev

POLITICS  30 May 2023 - 15:49

President Ilham Aliyev has said his Israeli counterpart's visit to Azerbaijan will give a big impetus to the development of bilateral friendly ties.

He made the remarks at an expanded meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Baku on May 30, Azertag reports.

“I am sure that the visit of the Israeli President will give a big impetus to the development of friendly relations between our countries,” he said.

Aliyev noted that “we just had very good discussions with Mr President about our bilateral agenda and also regional issues. And I'm sure that at the meeting with delegations and in communication during your visit today and tomorrow, the broad range of issues will be discussed”.

The Azerbaijani president described the visit as historic.

“We will see positive developments after the visit. Because I'm absolutely sure that there's great potential though we did a lot already - on different tracks including trade, energy, and security, but a lot is to be done. And we consider your visit to Azerbaijan as a historical one,” the Azerbaijani president noted.

In a statement for the press along with Herrzog, Aliyev said that the Israeli president's visit will strengthen bilateral ties.

“We have very active political dialogue. During the official visit, we had more opportunities to address important issues on our bilateral agenda. Opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel this year, of course, will elevate relations on a high level and at the same time, will create more opportunities to have closer interaction,” the head of state noted.

He added that Azerbaijan continues to be a reliable supplier of crude oil to Israel.

“Looking at some economic figures I saw that our trade turnover is more than 1.7 billion US dollars, which is a substantial amount. But I think, in the coming years we need to try to diversify the trade turnover," Aliyev said as he made a joint press statement with President of Israel Isaac Herzog.

“Hopefully, as a result of joint projects, which we plan to implement, we will have a more balanced trade turnover. And it will not only depend on energy factor, though for many years Azerbaijan continues to be a reliable supplier of crude oil to Israel. This actually demonstrates also close cooperation in the energy field,” the head of state underlined.

“Today, during the discussions we also addressed the issue of how to expand cooperation in the energy field. Because we see great opportunities of investment projects, projects related to the creation of interconnectors and potential projects of cooperation in third countries,” he said.

“We also discussed our plans and what has already been done in the area of irrigation and agriculture. We know about the great achievements of Israel in this area, and we want to use this positive experience in order to increase the productivity of our agricultural products and to diversify the market of our exports,” Aliyev noted.

He stressed that Azerbaijan and Israel started active cooperation in the cybersecurity sphere.

“One of the areas, which relatively recently we started to cooperate in, is the area of cybersecurity. We are very glad that active communications in this area have started,” he added.

“Today, it is not a secret that cybersecurity is an important part of the national security of every country. Definitely, great experience of Israeli companies in this area will be helpful to us including training of young generation, education, which will be a fundamental factor in order to achieve our goals and protect ourselves from threats,” the Azerbaijani president added.

Aliyev said that modern Israeli equipment helps Azerbaijan to modernise its defence capability.

“Talking about threats, I would also like to mention with pleasure, the long-lasting cooperation in the area of the defence industry. Azerbaijan has had access to modern Israeli equipment in this area for many years, which helps us to modernise our defence capability and be able to protect our statehood, our values, our national interests, and our territorial integrity,” President Ilham Aliyev emphasised.

He recalled that representatives of the Jewish community fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Azerbaijanis for the country's territorial integrity.

“Representatives of the Jewish community, citizens of Azerbaijan, people who contributed and contribute a lot to the modern development of our country. They fought shoulder-to-shoulder with us, with all the other representatives of ethnic groups in Azerbaijan for our independence, and for our territorial integrity. And today this factor is important not only for the successful development of Azerbaijan, intercultural peace and friendship but also for our bilateral relations,” the head of state noted.

Aliyev said that at his meeting with Herzog, the sides also discussed ways of enhancing the level of mutual tourism traffic.

"We have only four flights per week, which is, I think, not sufficient. And instructions have been given to members of our delegations to increase the number of flights not only on a seasonal basis - because we usually have more flights during the summertime - but also on a permanent basis, also to explore the opportunities, to have more presentations of capabilities and facilities in Israel so that we could invite more tourists from Israel and tell them more about centuries-long Jewish community’s life in Azerbaijan. This is a big asset for our country. Representatives of the Jewish community, citizens of Azerbaijan, people who contributed and contribute a lot to the modern development of our country,” the head of state noted.

Aliyev added that “Azerbaijani representatives who live in Israel also play an important role in building bridges between our countries".

“We have a centuries-long history of interaction, friendship, mutual support, and as an independent country - Azerbaijan is only 31 years old - but we have ancient history. Jews in Azerbaijan always were very active and a prominent part of society and remain so today. So, these are so-called cultural bridges between our countries. Therefore, their contribution to our bilateral strategic cooperation is very important,” the head of state emphasised.

Meanwhile, the Israeli president said it was an honour to be in Azerbaijan.

“It's an honour and a pleasure to be here. We come here with an open heart, with the great friendship between our nations. It’s important, of course, that you are a nation that has risen your late father and then you followed his footsteps to build an incredible place, which is a centre for so many things,” Herzog said.

He added that the “partnership between Israel and Azerbaijan is a foundation for many fields which you outlined and we discussed,” said President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog as he held an expanded meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev".

“I think it sends a message to our people on many levels. First, I believe that it sends a message that Jews and Muslims can do great things together. If they move for peace together, if they have an open dialogue together, they can do good to the world together. And secondly, it's a strategic relationship because we impact the entire region towards the direction of peace and prosperity and development,” the Israeli president emphasised.

Azerbaijan opened an embassy in Israel for the first time in March of this year, though Israel has had an embassy in Baku since 1993.

Baku had been hesitant to open an embassy in Israel in the past for fear of alienating other Muslim-majority states or provoking Iran but saw the Abraham Accords and Israel's rapprochement with Türkiye, in which Aliyev played a part, as turning points.

Israel and Azerbaijan have a close defence relationship. Jerusalem supplied drones to Baku that were used in its 2020 war with Armenia, according to foreign reports.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that 69 per cent of Azerbaijan’s arms imports in 2016-2020 came from Israel, which represents 17 of Israel’s arms exports in that period. About 40 per cent of the petroleum imported to Israel comes from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani politicians tied the move to open an embassy in Israel to Iran opening an additional consulate and declaring close ties with Armenia, with which Azerbaijan fought a war in 2020.

Iran and Azerbaijan share a 670-kilometre border, and there has long been speculation that Israel has launched covert operations in Iran from its northern neighbour.

Last year, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian accused Israel of having “established its presence in several regions of Azerbaijan,” which Baku denied. Soon after, Iran staged a military drill along the border. Aliyev responded by having himself photographed with Israeli Harop kamikaze drones, which are produced in his country.

Caliber.Az