Video Of The Week -Azerbaijan’s Unique Position between Israel & Iran - https://tinyurl.com/yc7ebtnp
For the full article by Calev Ben-David go to https://tinyurl.com/yy3k3awd
'It's the next logical step. For centuries a
relationship existed between Jewish and Azeri people'
The next Muslim nation to open an embassy in Israel
isn’t one connected to the landmark Abraham Accords, which saw the Jewish state
normalize ties with a handful of Arab states – it will be the central Asian
country of Azerbaijan.
Jerusalem already has an embassy in the Azeri capital
of Baku, but despite having ties with Israel for three decades, Azerbaijan, a
Shiite-Muslim majority nation that borders Iran, has not reciprocated – until now. Last month, its government
announced that it would soon open an embassy in Israel’s coastal city of Tel
Aviv, and last week its President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to make that
happen.
But why now?
“First of all, it's the logical next step in our
bilateral relations," said Dr. Farid Shafiyev, chairman of the Center of
Analysis of International Relations. "We have quite wide economic and
military ties, and we have a Jewish diaspora – for centuries a relationship
existed between Jewish and Azeri people. So there is a certain agenda between
the two countries," the Azeri expert told i24NEWS.
a trade office in Tel Aviv in 2021 and a tourism
office earlier this year, and last month, Israel's outgoing Defense
Minister Benny Gantz met with Aliyev in
the central Asian country. The embassy in Tel Aviv will be the first
embassy in Israel of a nation with a Shiite majority population and a Shiite
government.
“Right now, we have to look at the geopolitical
situation," Shafiyev continued. "Azerbaijan was thinking of opening
an embassy in Israel to reciprocate the diplomatic relationship, but it’s also
related to the Israel-Arab relationship as the Abraham Accords are developing.”
“Another important factor is that Azerbaijan managed
to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation. Before that, it was
difficult to do this step. And the relationship between Iran and Azerbaijan is at its lowest point. All
these factors contributed to this decision.”
No comments:
Post a Comment