Azerbaijan has officially opened its embassy in Tel Aviv

The official opening ceremony of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Israel took place in Tel Aviv. The event was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, who arrived in the Jewish state on a special visit, the head of the European Jewish community Alexander Sharovsky, the Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, as well as high-ranking politicians, diplomats, public and state figures, and scientists from both countries.

Earlier this week, Azerbaijani Ambassador Mukhtar Mammadov presented his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Israel was one of the first countries in the world to recognize Azerbaijan's independence in December 1991 and open an embassy there in 1993. Today, Azerbaijan is home to one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities in the Muslim world, operating under conditions of complete religious freedom.

Over the years, the EAJC has consistently contributed to deepening Israeli-Azerbaijani cooperation. In particular, the establishment of a diplomatic mission in Israel was previously raised during a personal meeting between the leadership of the EAJC and the President of the Republic Ilham Aliyev in 2019. At that time, the Azerbaijani head of state committed to progressively advancing this matter. The leadership of the Congress warmly welcomed the opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy, marking this event as another step toward strengthening diplomatic relations between the two nations.

The Azerbaijani diplomatic mission is Israel's first official representation from a nation with a Shia Muslim majority. Alongside the leadership of the Jewish state, the leaders of the EAJC join in expressing gratitude to their Azerbaijani colleagues for the development of this bilateral partnership.

“Throughout its history, Azerbaijan has consistently demonstrated its status as a highly respected, tolerant, multicultural, and multi-confessional state. The combination of tradition and historical heritage on one hand, and openness to the values of the modern world on the other, enables it not only to conduct a balanced domestic policy but also to strengthen its foreign relations. At the beginning of last year, Azerbaijan became one of the few Muslim countries where International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed as an official state date. Today, we witness another monumental step toward the Jewish people and the State of Israel with the opening of the embassy in Tel Aviv. I am convinced that this gesture will serve as a launchpad for a new phase of bilateral cooperation between our nations in the fields of culture, science, and the economy,” noted Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, President of the EAJC.