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Israeli Foreign Ministry's Official: "Israeli-Azerbaijani Relations

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  • Israeli Foreign Ministry's Official: "Israeli-Azerbaijani Relations

    ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY'S OFFICIAL: "ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS HAVE STRATEGIC CHARACTER"

    APA
    Dec 24 2009
    Azerbaijan

    "I saw how Turkish people love and support Azerbaijanis"

    Baku. Lachin Sultanova - APA. Deputy Director General in the Ministry
    of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Ambassador Pinhas Avivi, who is on a
    visit to Azerbaijan, gave an interview to APA.

    -What is main goal of your visit to Azerbaijan and whom did you
    meet with?

    -Israeli-Azerbaijani relations have strategic character. Usually such
    visits are realized once a year. The goal of this visit is to discuss
    previous work and prospects of cooperation, as well as to determine
    further forms of relations in 2010 and work to be done. I had many
    meetings and I met with the deputy foreign minister. We discussed
    common global political situation and regional developments. I
    got detailed information about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and
    at the same time I informed about the Middle East peace process
    and Israel's relations with Syria and Lebanon, as well as peace
    process developments. We also discussed the economic relationship
    and both agreed that indeed we have good results and statistics in
    the import-export operations. Our energy cooperation was also focused
    during the meeting. About 4 billion dollars of trade turnover between
    two small countries is a plenty large enough amount. We expressed
    satisfaction with that.

    -Did you discuss preparation for the Israeli foreign minister Avigdor
    Lieberman's expected visit to Azerbaijan next year?

    -Yes, we did. The issue is on agenda, but it was not scheduled yet.

    Usually we are informing each other during such visits. We are
    informing each other mostly about the Middle East peace process and
    Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Some agreements may be signed within the
    visit. There are two programs now and we discussed both of them and
    compared them with each other.

    -Do Azerbaijan and Israel expect to sign an agreement on visa-free
    regime during the Lieberman's visit?

    -This issue was not discussed. Israel is interested in visa-free
    regime, especially for the diplomats. I don't know about the intentions
    of Azerbaijani government. If there is a good intention, we will
    discuss it.

    -Did the Israeli President Shimon Peres' visit to Azerbaijan last
    summer effect on the development of bilateral relations?

    -Shimon Peres had very interesting visit and many Israeli businessmen
    accompanied him on the visit to Azerbaijan. Those businessmen made
    different visits to Azerbaijan. Four documents were signed between the
    governments and different companies during the president's visit. It
    brought good results, particularly in the field of economy and
    business. As I know, Israeli and Azerbaijani companies established
    joint ventures in some spheres and of course, this is a successful
    result. I also was in that delegation. We visited Guba region and
    discussed the issue of joint venture with the local companies there.

    -What is development in the energy field and are there expectations
    for gas cooperation?

    -We didn't sign a gas agreement yet, but we are in a serious phase now
    and researching the cooperation opportunities. Large gas resources were
    discovered in Israel recently and it can meet the country's needs in
    the next 20 years, but at the same time we are interested in gas import
    as well. We are also interested in the development of cooperation in
    the fields of high tech, agriculture, healthcare and education.

    -Did you meet with the Jewish community of Azerbaijan?

    -I didn't schedule a visit with the Jewish community this time, but
    I would like to express the Israeli government's satisfaction with
    that the government of Azerbaijan cares about and supports the local
    communities, including the Jewish community. All over the world know
    that Azerbaijan was always a tolerant country.

    -Arkia Israel Airlines expressed its intention to organize flights
    to Baku. Is there anything new in this field?

    -We also discussed this issue and it is on a serious stage now. The
    flight from Israel takes approximately two hours and a half, but
    it took me eight hours this time, as we flew through Turkey. We are
    interested in the solution of this issue. ARKIA wants to operate Tel
    Aviv - Baku flights at least three or four times a week. We think if
    there are direct flights, the number of Israeli tourists will extremely
    increase. Visa of the people coming from Israel to Azerbaijan was also
    discussed. They get visa in the airport, it takes much time and impedes
    the development of tourism. We consider that it should be made easier.

    -What will the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations give to
    the region?

    -We hope Armenia-Turkey rapprochement will also have positive results
    for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I have seen how
    Turkish people love and support Azerbaijanis. When I was ambassador
    to Turkey I saw Turkish leaders participate in Azerbaijan's national
    holidays.

    -Issue on the so-called Armenian genocide has been raised in the
    Knesset several times. Can Israel recognize the so-called genocide
    one day?

    -We approach this issue carefully. There were dramatic events in the
    history. Our position is that - Turkey has made this proposal - both
    sides should investigate the happenings and reach an agreement after
    that. We believe that the parties must hold a dialogue to clarify and
    investigate the matter and determine what really happened. It depends
    on them. Israelis underwent genocide as a result of the Nazi policy,
    therefore approach such issues carefully. We represent the government,
    the members of the Knesset are politicians. We can not interfere in
    their activity. The legislation does not allow the executive body to
    interfere in the activity of the legislative body. The parliamentarians
    are free to raise any issue.

    -Has the incident between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Shimon Peres in
    Davos affected the relations between the two countries?

    -Israel-Turkey relations were established basing on more serious
    interests. I do not think that any tiny incident may seriously
    damage these relations. Of course, the incident in Davos should
    not be approached positively, but such events can not seriously
    damage Israel-Turkey relations. Shimon Perez and Abdullah Gul had a
    very sincere and positive meeting in Copenhagen last week. Israeli
    Minister of Trade was in Turkey at that time. The relations have not
    been damaged. We realize that Turkey is trying to be a serious player
    in the region and that in order to be a serious force good relations
    should be established with the neighbors. Being on friendly terms with
    some of the neighbors and on bad terms with others look like a table
    that should have four legs, without one it can not stand. Stability
    also depends on these four legs. Therefore, Turkey should establish
    good relations with everybody.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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