BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 16. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made the right decision at the right time, thanks to which the territories occupied by Armenia were liberated [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War], Deputy Mayor of Holon (Israel) Mikhail Sutovsky told Trend.
"Azerbaijan, led by President Ilham Aliyev, absolutely responsibly, courageously and resolutely took control of the situation and brought it to a victorious end. These were truly heroic steps. President Ilham Aliyev understood the full responsibility of his every step and every decision," Sutovsky said.
Speaking about his visit to Azerbaijan, the official noted that he came at the invitation of the State Committee for Work with the Diaspora of Azerbaijan to participate in a conference on stabilization of the situation in the post-conflict period.
"It was interesting and important for me to take part in this conference and share my thoughts as a person who was born on Azerbaijani land and knows the history of the conflict. I also visited Aghdam. We were shown the ruins. These are barbaric destructions,” he emphasized. “In fact, no building with safe walls or a roof remained in Aghdam. The desire to totally demolish and destroy despite anything and to erase what existed from history - all these are nothing but barbarism.”
“The Armenian occupants destroyed everything which was alien to them. In the military industry, when coding missiles, there are concepts of "us" and "them" – what must be shot down or not. Meanwhile, in the center of Baku there is an Armenian church, which is protected by the state, which no one encroaches on," the deputy mayor said.
He reminded that although some people tried to present the conflict as a religious one, in fact the Armenian occupants also destroyed Christian churches.
“The fact shows that there was just some kind of inhuman hatred, a desire to seize, destroy and hurt as much as possible rather than the clash of religious interests. In this regard, I would like to remind the Khojaly tragedy. We have a memorial in Israel in memory of the tragedy. The events which took place are very difficult. This is all history,” Sutovsky said. “Today we must think about how to restore and breathe life into these territories. It’s very important to make sure that as many people as possible can come to these territories, see, get acquainted and feel everything."
The deputy mayor also noted that if what was destroyed is restored, this region can attract a lot of tourists.
"This will bring additional investments into the economy of Azerbaijan. We were driving from Baku to Aghdam and along the way I saw fields, the use of which, with the competent application of technologies, can provide a big economic breakthrough. Today Azerbaijan buys more wheat for its own needs,” he further said.
“At the same time the farmlands in Azerbaijan allow not only to fully meet the internal needs, but also to direct wheat for export. Especially today, when the world is on the verge of a food crisis, such a move could turn Azerbaijan into a world exporter,” Sutovsky pointed out. “Of course, this will take time, and more than one year, since these fields must first be cleared of mines. Security is very well established in the liberated territories, there are patrols, surveillance cameras work, and everything is under control.”
Besides, according to him, it’s necessary to expand cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel in the development of technologies.
"The purposes of my visit aren’t limited to this conference. A number of agreements were signed. I proposed joint education programs between Israeli and Azerbaijani universities. Memorandums of cooperation were signed with two Azerbaijani universities - the Azerbaijan Technical University and the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction,” the deputy mayor noted.
“There are also a number of projects on cooperation between our countries in the field of culture, tourism, people's diplomacy. The economic sphere, ties between small and medium-sized businesses of the countries are very important. There are many interesting ideas and projects. I hope that they will be developed in the future,” he said.
“I was very happy when the trade and tourist offices of Azerbaijan opened in Israel. Head of the Azerbaijani tourist office in Israel Jamila Talibzade is doing very serious work. In a short time, she managed to establish contacts and bridges for the promotion of various projects to familiarize the Israeli citizens with Azerbaijan. There are plans which will help ensure an additional flow of tourists from Israel to Azerbaijan, open up opportunities for Israelis to gain knowledge about Azerbaijan and create prerequisites for creating closer contacts," concluded Sutovsky.
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