Ambassador: Israel proposed to build Kibuts in Karabakh

Report's interview with Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan George Deek.

- As is known, Azerbaijan has opened its Trade and Tourism representative office in Israel. What were the first steps taken there and how exactly will the opening of this representative office contribute to developing relations between the countries?

- Last year a major step was taken by Azerbaijan towards deepening the relations between our two countries especially in the economic sphere - the opening Trade and Tourism Representative Office in July 29 in Israel. I think now Azerbaijan is still in the process of establishing the office and appointing its new head, as well as renovating it. We see that the progress is being made. We are still waiting for the head of the office to be appointed soon. I think the first step in this direction will be the convening of a joint commission between the governments of our two countries for the first time in Baku in the next few months, and we hope that in the near future we expect the visit of the head of the joint commission of Israel, the Minister of Tourism to Baku to discuss economic cooperation between our two countries with Minister Jabbarov and his team. We think that this will be a major step into strengthening the economic ties.

We see in a very positive light the opening of trade and tourism board: for the first time there’s an official representation of Azerbaijan in Israel and we see it as a first step towards the completion of building up the Azerbaijani representation in Israel.

This year, we are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations and we believe that time has come for both countries to have embassies and each other’s place and we look forward to opening the embassy in Israel.

The opening the embassy in Israel, it requires the decision of Azerbaijani side. Once that decision is made, the embassy will be opened.

- In your opinion, how can the statistics of the countries’ tourism sector change following the opening of the Tourism Office in Israel?

- Right now, we have a problem with tourism all over the world, called COVID-19. The tourism has risen five times between 2016-2019 from 10,000 to 50,000, but we believe that the potential is even bigger. We have the representative of the Azerbaijani Tourism Board in Israel that is working very hard together with AZAL and others to reach out to new audiences in order to enlarge the pool of tourists that come to Azerbaijan and we’re also trying to do the same here.

We are thinking of opening Azerbaijani winter tourism for Israelis. I visited the Shahdag ski resort lately and I’m planning to go to Gabala. I think there’s a good potential for Israelis who are looking to visit the friendly country and to enjoy good ski. It’s an undiscovered area of tourism in this part of the world.

- The year 2020 has greatly affected the trade relations of countries around the world, and Azerbaijan's economic relations with Israel are no exception. What steps are taken by the countries to get rid of the consequences of the pandemic for their economic cooperation?

Today (14.02.2022) there was a zoom meeting between the Israeli minister of health with Azerbaijani minister of health on combating COVID-19, which is a part of ongoing consultation between our countries and we’re very proud that they are still going up to this day. This is a part of our efforts to help each other in facing the common challenges and threats to our healthcare system.

- It is known that there are a huge number of Israelis in Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijanis in Israel. How do you assess the friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries?

- When I came to Azerbaijan in the beginning, I have been told about it but I didn’t understand completely that the relations between two peoples are truly unique.

Azerbaijan is part of the Muslim world. After the establishment of Israel, most of the Muslim countries have cut the ties with Israel or have never even started them. And here you have one country that stood out and said “We are Muslim-majority country, but our relationship with Jewish people is a brotherly one, Jews have lived here.” It’s truly the remarkable place where Jews have lived without any persecution from the local community. When there was any persecution from other countries, the local community in Azerbaijan always protected the Jewish one.

I think our relations are built upon the tremendous honor and respect to each other. When I came here it really struck and overwhelmed me to see the love and care for one another. The Azerbaijani community in Israel also see themselves as a part of that nation. These two communities serve as a bridge between two nations. When I go out, I’m warmly received whether it’s at the restaurant, or mall or, wherever I go with my family, or on my private time.

I want to use this opportunity to thank the people of Azerbaijan for this very warm welcome.

- At the end of last year, you have said that Azerbaijan and Israel intend to develop cooperation in a number of areas, including politics, energy, agriculture, healthcare, and others. Has any work been launched in these areas since the beginning of this year?

- This is a year after we have set out the goals for the areas of the cooperation between our two nations. This is the year where we will see the breakthrough happening. The first priority was water: there are several agreements on the pipelines on the water management and water resources that we hope will be signed during this year.

We are also hoping to see more companies participating in tenders, auctions for the renewable energy fields.

On 24th of February I am going together with the US ambassador to Ganja to open the agricultural demonstration farm: the place that will be used to teach people the ways of using the latest agricultural equipment from Israel. There’s also an Agriculture Exhibition Caspian Agro in May. We are looking to have a lot of Israeli companies at this exhibition, maybe we will also have the visitors from Israeli government. The minister of agriculture has visited Israel last November and there are more follow ups that are going to be born from this visit. At least two Israeli companies are looking into the possibility of opening the production line for seeds here and we’re talking about the investments in Azerbaijan.

We can see that even in healthcare our ministers are in constant dialogue about COVID-19 and other issues.

Azerbaijan has also appointed permanent minister of health and I want to congratulate minister Teymur Musayev for his position. In every field we have made some progress and we foresee even more in short term.

- At the same conference you have been telling about the importance of energy sector, in particular the alternative energy, which is a very important sector of Azerbaijan’s development plan. How soon can we see new energy projects between the countries within and outside of Karabakh?

- When it comes to alternative energy, regardless our special relations, this is a global challenge to diversify our source of energy which is why we develop this field in Israel: solar, wind and other energy. We just signed an agreement few months ago with Jordan to build the solar farm there that will supply electricity to Israel. We have a lot of expertise in this field.

When it comes to the bilateral relations, obviously we will be very happy to participate in the projects all over Azerbaijan: in Karabakh and outside of it. We believe that there are many projects to be created on Absheron and elsewhere that could be of interest to Israeli companies that can make a big contribution to these projects. Obviously, the last word will be for the Azerbaijani government, the minister of energy to decide.

I’m sure that not just Israeli, but other companies are also applying and Azerbaijan need to choose what is best for itself. We hope that if Israeli companies are providing something beneficial for Azerbaijan, this will come to fruition.

- It is also known that many Israeli companies are involved in the reconstruction of the liberated lands of Azerbaijan. One of the most famous projects is the project in Zangilan. What stage is this project currently at and what other projects of this scale could you name?

- The reconstruction of Karabakh requires a lot of funds and time. The Azerbaijani government and people understand it. We are talking about the territory that is the size of half of whole Israel.

Yes, we have the project in Zangilan. I hope to visit the Israeli farm in Zangilan soon, which will grow cows and buffalos and will contribute to the economy and commonwealth of the region.

Also, there are potential projects in water, energy, technology in Aghdam. There are projects elsewhere also, we have spoken about renewable energy, projects that might be relevant in Gubadly, Kalbajar and elsewhere. There are different areas with different issues of interest.

What is important to us is to help Azerbaijan to do the best for its people, territories and, therefore, whatever Azerbaijan thinks Israel can contribute – we are there. And if there’s a field where someone can contribute more than Israel, they should do what’s good for Azerbaijan. We are here to help our brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan to do the best for themselves. In all the fields that I have mentioned: water management, agriculture, which is going to be very big in Karabakh, renewable energy, healthcare and technology, smart cities- these are the fields that we think we have an added value compared to other partners. We are more than willing to share that with Azerbaijani partners.

We have submitted the proposals to Azerbaijani government, urban planning community and different communities to build Kibutz in Karabakh and they are now accumulating a lot of ideas and plans on how the best to build the communities across Karabakh. These kinds of decisions should not and will not be taken quickly without consideration, research and understanding the needs that has to be done and then we can see how to adapt the project to these needs.