Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 12
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
The Azerbaijan-Israel relations are an amazing example of cooperation between a Muslim country and the Jewish state. From this viewpoint, Baku can do a lot for Israel – help the country in the difficult relations with certain countries of the region, as well as communicate the position of Muslim countries to Israel, given Azerbaijan's participation in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
This will be one of the main topics of discussion between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, a diplomatic source told Trend.
Netanyahu, who first visited Azerbaijan in 1998, will visit the country for the second time on Dec. 13.
Since 1998, the relations have progressively evolved and this high-level visit will surely become a serious momentum for strengthening and expanding relations between the two states.
Israel and Azerbaijan are already in strong partnership, which is to a large extent built on the trust of the Israeli people to Azerbaijan as one of the world’s most tolerant countries, where the Jewish community has felt secure and lived in prosperity for many years.
A number of issues in various spheres, ranging from economic cooperation to security, are on the agenda of the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Azerbaijan’s mediation in the settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict can be one of the main topics of discussion.
As a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Baku – which has good relations with almost all the Muslim countries of the region and the world – can help communicate the position of the Islamic world to Israel’s consideration. Moreover, having more than friendly relations with Ankara, Baku can help strengthen the Turkey-Israel relations that have been recently improving after the 2010 crisis.
Of course, during Netanyahu’s visit to Baku, it will be impossible to bypass the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Israel always notes the full recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and supports the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries’ work on progress towards peace.
As for the economy, the two countries have a wide cooperation, which is not limited to the purchase of Azerbaijani oil by Israel and Israeli investments in Azerbaijani economy.
One of the new spheres of cooperation, which should be interesting for both countries, is agricultural sphere, where Israel’s experience in using high technologies can be interesting for Azerbaijan, which has recently focused on development of economy’s agrarian sector.
Meanwhile, the two countries can share experience and technologies in military industry, telecommunications, and can successfully cooperate in humanitarian projects.
Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency’s Russian news service