Baku, Azerbaijan, June 25
By Lyaman Zeynalova – Trend:
Azerbaijan and the Republic of South Africa (RSA) will sign six new agreements, Azad Naghiyev, charge d'affaires of the Azerbaijani Embassy in South Africa, said in an interview with Trend.
"I would like to note that two documents have been signed between our countries, and six more are under consideration," he said.
The diplomat recalled that during the official visits of Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov to South Africa and Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to Azerbaijan, "Memorandum of understanding between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of South Africa on holding regular diplomatic consultations" and "Memorandum of understanding between the diplomatic academies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the Republic of South Africa" were signed, which laid the foundation for the development of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The chargé d'affaires noted that, friendly political relations had been established since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"So, the visits of Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Alfred Nzo and Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in Azerbaijan took place on May 3, 1999 and November 28-29, 2016, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov paid an official visit to South Africa on February 20-27, 2014. In 2018, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Lindiwe Sisulu has received the invitation to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan, which has been accepted with gratitude. I hope that this visit will be carried out and will give a new impetus to the development of relations between our friendly countries," Naghiyev said.
According to the diplomat, meetings and consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries on the most important issues of bilateral and multilateral relations are held regularly.
"So, in May 2013, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Marius Fransman, and in June 2016, the delegation of the MFA of the Republic of South Africa held political consultations in Baku. In addition, diplomatic representatives of our countries regularly meet at various international forums within the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, etc. Thus, the delegation of the South African Foreign Ministry headed by Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Llewellyn Landers took part in the Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement Countries, held in Baku in April 2018," he said.
He noted that, along with diplomatic relations, the Azerbaijani-South African inter-parliamentary relations have also developed.
The diplomat recalled that in 2000 the Azerbaijani-South African inter-parliamentary working group was established in the parliament of Azerbaijan.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on April 29, 1992. In February 2012, the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the Republic of South Africa was opened. Since 1999, the Embassy of South Africa in the Republic of Turkey has been accredited in Azerbaijan.
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