(MENAFN- AzerNews) An interview with former Israeli Communication minister Ayoob
Kara about Russia's role in Azerbaijan-Armenia relations as well as
Israel's support in development of Agriculture in Azerbaijan's
Karabakh has been published in Israel's Jewish News Syndicate
(jns ) news website.
In the article it is talked about the recent peace talks between
Azerbaijan and Armenia with the participation of Russia, and
intensive works carried out to fight against the mine threat in
Azerbaijan's Karabakh. In the interview Kara says if Armenia has
recognized Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, it means for Armenia
also Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. He said that Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeated it in previous meetings as
well. He also directs the attention to the benefits of raising
agriculture in Karabakh for both Azerbaijan and Israel, saying that
Azerbaijan has designated agriculture as one of four priority
sectors for diversifying its economy.
Azernews presents the full version of the
article:
Recently, Russia hosted peace talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan aimed at solving the conflict in the war-torn Karabakh
region. During the talks, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
reiterated his support for recognizing Karabakh as part of
Azerbaijan and announced that all trade links between Azerbaijan
and Armenia would be renewed. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
announced:“I think that there is a possibility of a peace
agreement, especially because Armenia has recognized Karabakh as
part of Azerbaijan.”
As a former Israeli minister, I believe this is a welcome
development. Not too long ago, there were concerns that Russia
intended to act as a spoiler in any potential peace agreement
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia, it was believed, wanted to
keep its 2,000 peacekeepers in the area and expand its sphere of
influence, especially after the country became an international
pariah following its devastating attack on Ukraine.
These suspicions were especially apparent when the
Kremlin-linked Armenian-born oligarch Ruben Vardanyan was appointed
by ethnic Armenian separatists as the“unofficial first minister”
of the Karabakh region. Last February, however, he lost his
position. In the wake of recent clashes, it appeared as though the
Russians were losing control of the situation, which prompted the
U.S. and the Belgium to get involved and host peace talks. After
they did so, Russia decided to mediate negotiations, and it now
appears that peace is closer than ever.
If peace is achieved, Russia could lose its influence over the
South Caucuses, but Israel has much to gain. A demined Karabakh
region will enable Azerbaijan to build up a fertile region full of
wheat fields that utilize Israeli technology. It could then export
that wheat to Israel, effectively ensuring Israel's food security,
which has been in question due to the war in Ukraine.
Israel already operates a dairy farm in the Karabakh region and
can do much more to influence its agricultural development based on
the kibbutz model. The Arava International Center for Agricultural
Training stated that it will train 50 agricultural students this
year.
“Azerbaijan has designated agriculture as one of four priority
sectors for diversifying its economy,” the Center stated.
“Agriculture is Azerbaijan's largest employer, employing 37% of the
population with the main crops being wheat, barley, potatoes,
maize, cotton, grapes, vegetables, fruits, tobacco and tea.”
This agricultural training will help build up the friendship
between Azerbaijan and Israel, as Azerbaijani students come to
Israel to learn about Israel's cutting-edge agricultural technology
and then use that technology to make Karabakh green again.
Through agriculture, Karabakh can be rebuilt and internally
displaced persons return to their homes, as crop fields can make
the land productive at a quicker rate than cities and towns.
Thus, Israel could benefit greatly once peace is achieved
between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The landmine threat will diminish
and the agricultural potential of the region will skyrocket. This
will lead to a significant increase in Azerbaijani agricultural
exports to Israel and Israeli technology exports to Azerbaijan.
Armenia also has much to gain from a peace agreement. Instead of
being a small, land-locked, blockaded country relying on
international pariahs like Russia and Iran to survive, Armenia
could flourish and thrive with a rebuilt economy that trades with
Azerbaijan and Turkey. This will help the people of Armenia not
only live conflict-free lives, but also enjoy a decent economy and
standard of living.
The day a peace treaty is signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
Israel, the U.S., Europe and Turkey will all be beneficiaries. The
biggest losers will be Russia and Iran, who will lose their spheres
of influence.
There may be room for the Kremlin to improve its image a bit
following the latest talks in Moscow. Nevertheless, following a
peace deal, Iran's influence over the South Caucuses will be
eliminated. This would be a great victory for the State of
Israel.
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