Azerbaijan inaugurated its first-ever embassy in Israel. The ceremony took place in Tel Aviv. It was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, who arrived in Israel earlier on a special visit, the head of European Jews Community in Azerbaijan Alexander Sharovsky, the Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Dr. Haim Ben Yakov and high-ranking politicians, diplomats, activists, officials and scientists from two countries.
Earlier this week, the Azeri Ambassador, Mukhtar Mammadov, submitted his letter of Credence to President Isaac Herzog. Azerbaijan has not had an official diplomatic representation in Israel for about 30 years. Nevertheless, Israel was one of the first countries in the world to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan in December 1991 and inaugurated an embassy there in 1993.
Recognized as a secular country, Azerbaijan is the first Muslim-Shiite country to establish an embassy in the State of Israel.
The thriving Jewish community, one of the largest in the Muslim world (12-18 thousand people) enjoys complete freedom of religion and worship.
Over the years, the EAJC has contributed to the deepening of Israeli-Azerbaijani cooperation. Thus, the issue of opening an embassy in Israel was previously raised during a work meeting between the EAJC leadership and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in 2019. Then he promised to gradually promote this issue. Congress’ leaders warmly welcomed the decision to open an embassy, noting this event as another step towards strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Azeri diplomatic mission has become for Israel the first official representation of the state, the majority of whose population professes the Shiite branch of Islam. Following the leadership of the Jewish state, the leaders of the EAJC join in expressing gratitude to their Azeri colleagues for the development of bilateral partnership.
As EAJC President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili said, “Throughout the years of its independence Azerbaijan has consistently proved its status as authoritative, tolerant, multicultural and multi-confessional state. The combination of traditions and historical heritage, on the one hand, and openness to the values of the modern world, on the other hand, allows it not only to pursue a balanced domestic policy, but also to strengthen external ties. At the very beginning of last year, Azerbaijan became one of the few Muslim countries where International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an official state date. Today we see another step towards the Jewish people and the State of Israel – the opening of an embassy in Tel Aviv. I am convinced that this gesture will become the starting point in a new round of joint cooperation between our states in the field of culture, science and economy”.
