Speaker: Azerbaijani parliament ready to expand cooperation with Israeli Knesset PHOTO

Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Majlis) Speaker Sahiba Gafarova has said that the Azerbaijani parliament is ready to further expand cooperation with the Israeli Knesset.

She made the remarks while receiving the delegation headed by Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Chairman of the Foreign Relations and Defense Committee of the Israeli Knesset on June 5, Caliber.Az reports, citing the parliament's website.

Expressing her satisfaction to welcome the guests in the Parliament of Azerbaijan, the chairman of the Milli Majlis said that Azerbaijan and Israel are friendly and partner countries. Speaker Gafarova pointed out that active political dialogue, high-level visits and meetings between the countries played an exceptional role in the development of relations.

Gafarova highly appreciated the first official visit of President Isaac Herzog to Azerbaijan in May and expressed her belief that the visit will greatly contribute to the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.

The speaker also drew attention to the fact that the opening of Azerbaijan's embassy in Israel in 2023 will contribute to raising relations between the two countries to a higher level and creating ample opportunities for cooperation.

At the meeting, Gafarova said that Jews and Azerbaijanis lived in conditions of peace, friendship and mutual understanding for centuries. Today, the Jewish community actively participates in the social and political life of Azerbaijan.

She pointed out that the Jewish community is surrounded by the attention and care of the state. Synagogues and Jewish schools operate in Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Azerbaijani compatriots of Jewish origin living in Israel make a great contribution to the development of relations between the two countries.

Speaking about the positive role played by inter-parliamentary relations in the development of bilateral relations, the Chairman of the Milli Majlis praised the activities of mutual friendship groups in both parliaments and the visits of parliament members in this direction.

Gafarova emphasized that the Milli Majlis is ready to further expand cooperation with the Knesset. She also said that in addition to friendship groups, increasing contacts and expanding cooperation between parliamentary committees will serve to deepen relations between the legislative bodies.

Chairman of the Foreign Relations and Defense Committee of the Israeli Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein expressed his gratitude for the hospitality and shared his good impressions about his visit to Azerbaijan.

He said that Israel considers Azerbaijan a friendly country. The chairman of the committee expressed his satisfaction with the upward development of the relations and emphasized that the partnership between Israel and Azerbaijan serves the interests of the peoples and the development of peace and cooperation.

He recalled the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Azerbaijan at the end of May and said that this visit will stimulate the further development of relations between the countries. Emphasizing the importance of opening the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel, the guest said that it has an important role in further expanding the relations.

Edelstein noted that the two countries have successful cooperative relations in a number of fields and said that the further development of relations between the parliaments plays a special role in the deepening of relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.

At the meeting, opinions were exchanged on other issues of mutual interest.

Azerbaijan and Israel have engaged in close cooperation since 1992. Azerbaijan is one of the majority Muslim countries to develop bilateral strategic and economic relations with Israel.

On March 29, the Embassy of Azerbaijan has been officially inaugurated in Israel.

The opening ceremony was attended by the two countries` foreign ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Eli Cohen, as well as MPs, members of the general public and artists.

On November 26, 2022, President Ilham Aliyev issued an order to establish the Azerbaijani Embassy in the State of Israel, signalling another important step forward in the diplomatic relations between the two countries. On January 11, the President appointed Mukhtar Mammadov as the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to Israel, marking another significant milestone in the bilateral relationship between the Muslim-majority nation and the Jewish state.

Israel is an important exporter of arms to Azerbaijan: according to research of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel accounted for 27 per cent of Azerbaijan’s major arms imports from 2011 to 2020 and from 2016 to 2020, Israel accounted for 69 per cent of Azerbaijan’s major arms imports.