ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY’S OFFICIAL: "ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI RELATIONS HAVE STRATEGIC CHARACTER"

APA
Dec 24 2009
Azerbaijan

"I saw how Turkish people love and support Azerbaijanis"

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. Deputy Director General in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Ambassador Pinhas Avivi, who is on a
visit to Azerbaijan, gave an interview to APA.

-What is main goal of your visit to Azerbaijan and whom did you
meet with?

-Israeli-Azerbaijani relations have strategic character. Usually such
visits are realized once a year. The goal of this visit is to discuss
previous work and prospects of cooperation, as well as to determine
further forms of relations in 2010 and work to be done. I had many
meetings and I met with the deputy foreign minister. We discussed
common global political situation and regional developments. I
got detailed information about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and
at the same time I informed about the Middle East peace process
and Israel’s relations with Syria and Lebanon, as well as peace
process developments. We also discussed the economic relationship
and both agreed that indeed we have good results and statistics in
the import-export operations. Our energy cooperation was also focused
during the meeting. About 4 billion dollars of trade turnover between
two small countries is a plenty large enough amount. We expressed
satisfaction with that.

-Did you discuss preparation for the Israeli foreign minister Avigdor
Lieberman’s expected visit to Azerbaijan next year?

-Yes, we did. The issue is on agenda, but it was not scheduled yet.

Usually we are informing each other during such visits. We are
informing each other mostly about the Middle East peace process and
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Some agreements may be signed within the
visit. There are two programs now and we discussed both of them and
compared them with each other.

-Do Azerbaijan and Israel expect to sign an agreement on visa-free
regime during the Lieberman’s visit?

-This issue was not discussed. Israel is interested in visa-free
regime, especially for the diplomats. I don’t know about the intentions
of Azerbaijani government. If there is a good intention, we will
discuss it.

-Did the Israeli President Shimon Peres’ visit to Azerbaijan last
summer effect on the development of bilateral relations?

-Shimon Peres had very interesting visit and many Israeli businessmen
accompanied him on the visit to Azerbaijan. Those businessmen made
different visits to Azerbaijan. Four documents were signed between the
governments and different companies during the president’s visit. It
brought good results, particularly in the field of economy and
business. As I know, Israeli and Azerbaijani companies established
joint ventures in some spheres and of course, this is a successful
result. I also was in that delegation. We visited Guba region and
discussed the issue of joint venture with the local companies there.

-What is development in the energy field and are there expectations
for gas cooperation?

-We didn’t sign a gas agreement yet, but we are in a serious phase now
and researching the cooperation opportunities. Large gas resources were
discovered in Israel recently and it can meet the country’s needs in
the next 20 years, but at the same time we are interested in gas import
as well. We are also interested in the development of cooperation in
the fields of high tech, agriculture, healthcare and education.

-Did you meet with the Jewish community of Azerbaijan?

-I didn’t schedule a visit with the Jewish community this time, but
I would like to express the Israeli government’s satisfaction with
that the government of Azerbaijan cares about and supports the local
communities, including the Jewish community. All over the world know
that Azerbaijan was always a tolerant country.

-Arkia Israel Airlines expressed its intention to organize flights
to Baku. Is there anything new in this field?

-We also discussed this issue and it is on a serious stage now. The
flight from Israel takes approximately two hours and a half, but
it took me eight hours this time, as we flew through Turkey. We are
interested in the solution of this issue. ARKIA wants to operate Tel
Aviv – Baku flights at least three or four times a week. We think if
there are direct flights, the number of Israeli tourists will extremely
increase. Visa of the people coming from Israel to Azerbaijan was also
discussed. They get visa in the airport, it takes much time and impedes
the development of tourism. We consider that it should be made easier.

-What will the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations give to
the region?

-We hope Armenia-Turkey rapprochement will also have positive results
for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I have seen how
Turkish people love and support Azerbaijanis. When I was ambassador
to Turkey I saw Turkish leaders participate in Azerbaijan’s national
holidays.

-Issue on the so-called Armenian genocide has been raised in the
Knesset several times. Can Israel recognize the so-called genocide
one day?

-We approach this issue carefully. There were dramatic events in the
history. Our position is that – Turkey has made this proposal – both
sides should investigate the happenings and reach an agreement after
that. We believe that the parties must hold a dialogue to clarify and
investigate the matter and determine what really happened. It depends
on them. Israelis underwent genocide as a result of the Nazi policy,
therefore approach such issues carefully. We represent the government,
the members of the Knesset are politicians. We can not interfere in
their activity. The legislation does not allow the executive body to
interfere in the activity of the legislative body. The parliamentarians
are free to raise any issue.

-Has the incident between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Shimon Peres in
Davos affected the relations between the two countries?

-Israel-Turkey relations were established basing on more serious
interests. I do not think that any tiny incident may seriously
damage these relations. Of course, the incident in Davos should
not be approached positively, but such events can not seriously
damage Israel-Turkey relations. Shimon Perez and Abdullah Gul had a
very sincere and positive meeting in Copenhagen last week. Israeli
Minister of Trade was in Turkey at that time. The relations have not
been damaged. We realize that Turkey is trying to be a serious player
in the region and that in order to be a serious force good relations
should be established with the neighbors. Being on friendly terms with
some of the neighbors and on bad terms with others look like a table
that should have four legs, without one it can not stand. Stability
also depends on these four legs. Therefore, Turkey should establish
good relations with everybody.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress