Azerbaijan's policy towards Jews can be example
Azerbaijani government’s policy with respect to the Jews residing in the country can serve as an example for many countries, Yaakov Kedmi, diplomat, former head of Israel’s ‘Nativ’ intelligence agency exclusively told Trend Sept.29.
He said that the relations between Israel and Azerbaijan are at a good level in all spheres and this cooperation will only deepen in the future.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Israel stood at $397.6 million in H1 2015 and the export from Azerbaijan accounted for $385 million, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.
“However, the absence of Azerbaijani embassy in Israel doesn’t correspond to the real deep relations between our countries,” said Kedmi.
Azerbaijan and Israel have engaged in intense cooperation since 1992.The strategic relationship included cooperation in trade and security matters, and cultural and educational exchanges.
Azerbaijan and Israel are jointly focusing on many growth sectors, mainly telecommunications, agriculture, water supply, and medical technologies.
Azerbaijan is home to some 12,000 Mountain Jews, residing primarily in Baku and Gırmızı Gasaba settlement in the Guba region of Azerbaijan. Mountain Jews have been living in Azerbaijan for close to 1500 years.
Furthermore, Kedmi said the two countries have great prospects for military cooperation.
Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the diplomat said that Armenia is interested in keeping Nagorno-Karabakh under occupation and has never concealed that.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are
currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.
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