(MENAFN- AzerNews) 'The most important thing is to remain calm' with Iran, Special
Envoy Elchin Amirbayov tells i24news , an Israeli-based news television.
Azerbaijan's Special Envoy Elchin Amirbayov, advisor to the
country's vice president, hailed the opening of a new embassy in
Tel Aviv in an interview with journalist Christian Malard.
“First of all, Israel is a very important strategic partner for
Azerbaijan,” he said.“It is a friend of Azerbaijan. I think the
decision to open an embassy reflects the results of the evolution
in our relations over decades.”
While Israeli-Azeri relations are improving, Amirbayov stressed
the importance of diplomacy with Iran, the Jewish state's main
adversary in the Middle East.
“For us, it is important that Iran, which is an important
neighbor in terms of size and history, remains a good neighbor,” he
said.
Some 20 to 30 million Iranians are of Azeri origins, Amirbayov
noted, making decent relations between Baku and Tehran of utmost
importance despite differing outlooks.
“The most important thing is to remain calm, to provide
stability in the region,” he said.
Regarding the situation in his country following the 2020 Second
Karabakh War, in which Baku took back swathes of territory taken by
Armenian separatists in the early 1990s after the fall of the
Soviet Union, he said that Azerbaijan wants“to rebuild and
rehabilitate all the occupied territories.”
“Peace,” he said,“depends on the will of both countries,”
adding that“there is no alternative to peace.”
Amirbayev denied claims that some 120,000 Armenians are being
pressured to return to Armenia from territory captured by
Azerbaijan, noting that he did not“think there were so many
Armenians in the region.”
“There is no blockade right now,” he said, noting“5,000 cars,
trucks and different vehicles are bringing humanitarian aid to the
Karabakh region.”
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