An Azerbaijani official expresses his desire to open an embassy for his country in Israel, “Jews have lived in Azerbaijan for 2,500 years,” said Farid Shoev, head of the Center for the Analysis of International Relations in Azerbaijan.
In wake of this week’s 29 years of bilateral relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani official said it was high time “to open an embassy in Israel,” Israel Hayom daily reported on Thursday.
Officials from both countries, including Azerbaijani politicians and Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Doron Pe’er, took part in a virtual ceremony to mark the event.
Farid Shafiyev, chairman of the Center for Analysis of International Relations of Azerbaijan, asserted that “the Azeri people and the Jewish people have a long history.
“Jews have lived in Azerbaijan for 2,500 years. The historical ties between peoples are deep,” he stressed.
“There are Israelis who are influenced by the Armenian lobby, who think that the basis of relations between Israel and Azerbaijan is oil and weapons,” he said, adding that “in reality they are wrong; the basis of these links is historical, although there is no doubt that the economic links are important.”
Shafiyev continued, stating that “Historians attack the image of Israelis and Azerbaijanis. It is anti-Semitism and anti-Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, it is also what unites us. We must strengthen our ties. The time has come to open an Azerbaijani embassy in Israel,” he concluded.
In 2016, President Ilham Aliyev claimed that his country had purchased $4.85 billion in defense equipment from Israel.
