Azerbaijan’s long history of tolerance is a model for modern times
With Syria mired in open revolt, several other Middle Eastern and North African countries still reeling from the Arab Spring, and Iran at loggerheads with the United States over its nuclear program, it was astounding to hear Israel’s president refer to a Muslim country this week not as a problem but as part of the solution.
Yet there was Shimon Perez in Jerusalem on Monday praising Azerbaijan for taking “a clear stand” against war and terrorism and for making the world a bit more safe and predictable.
The occasion was a visit to Israel by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, accompanied by a large delegation of Azerbaijani Jews, including a Jewish member of the parliament. While Mr. Mammadyarov’s trip this week was historic — it marked the first visit to Israel by an Azerbaijani foreign minister — the rhetoric was not. Azerbaijan’s long-standing friendship with Israel — and its support for the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — have been policy for years. Israel has even asked Azerbaijan to help broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Unbeknownst to many, Azerbaijan, a secular country with a predominantly Muslim population that sits on the United Nations Security Council, has had a close relationship with Israel since the beginning of its independence from the Soviet Union a generation ago. Indeed, it might surprise many to know that Azerbaijan, with a Shiite-majority population and a shared border with Iran, supplies some 40 percent of Israel’s oil. A subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic is aiding Israel’s quest for energy security by drilling off the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean. The countries also have a close partnership in the defense sector.
During a period when old grudges and prejudices color nearly every global event, Mr. Mammadyarov’s visit to Israel is a hopeful sign. It’s refreshing when two countries with diverse cultural backgrounds make common cause and become friends, rather than hew to tired stereotypes that seem to define every facet of the modern world order.
The strategic relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel is held together by a human story. Azerbaijan is home to a thriving Jewish community of about 30,000, which has lived there in peace for at least 2,000 years. When, over the centuries, Jews in the surrounding regions found themselves persecuted, they found Azerbaijan a haven. During World War II, many European Jews escaping Nazi persecutions found shelter in Azerbaijan.
Over the years since independence, Azerbaijan also has proved to be a staunch and reliable ally of the United States and Europe. The Caspian region is increasingly important to the West as the strategic juncture between the Middle East and Central Asia, and Baku has become a strong regional partner at this critical intersection.
My country has long been dedicated to promoting stability and security in its neighborhood. Azerbaijan has played a vital role in supporting the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan and has been providing valuable overflight, refueling and landing rights to 40 percent of the material that coalition forces use. Azerbaijan has suffered repeatedly from terrorism. Therefore, we clearly understand the need to counter extremism in whatever form it may exist.
It is not easy to pursue an independent path, especially for a young country in a complex and challenging region. Attempts to divert us from this path abound, but they all have failed. Azerbaijan’s resolve to preserve and strengthen its hard-won freedom and independence has never been stronger.
Nasimi Aghayev is Azerbaijan’s consul general to the Western United States.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/25/an-unusual-partnership-between-muslims-and-jews/#ixzz2RavXpwdT
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Laura Said:
Laura, Pam Geller and Honey Bee the Three Amigas, together we put a little juice in these “weak kneed boys”,
monostor Said:
@ S.N. Gelberg:
I never ment to “attack” your hominens, I didn’t realize how delicate they are.
@ Honey Bee:
LOL
Time for some of your correspondents to grow up and/or learn to write well without
ad hominem attacks on those whose opinions differ from theirs.
Other than that, time to say many thanks to Ted for all he does.
Sol
@ monostor:
Sooooooo Sorry if I hurt your feelings. People who assumtions are asses if the first thing you learn in life.
@ Honey Bee:
Ad hominem attacks are defense only for a liberal minded person, but thanks for the correction. I wasn’t schooled in the US.
yamit82 Said:
I though all Moutain Jews were in the Catskills or the Poconos?
@ yamit82:
monostor Said:
I thoought you BOYS were edumacted,H&G is History and Government. People who make assumtions are asses.
@ yamit82:
Which two major high school subjects start with the letters “H” and “G”? One would assume that they are HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY.
Caucasusian_Jews, circa.1890
Mountain Jews of the Caucas,circa. 1900</strong>
Humble Iranian Said:
The main ethno-linguistic minority groups in Iran are the Azeris, Kurds, Balochs, Arabs, Turkmens, Pashtuns, Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians and Jews.
Ethnicity/race in Iran breaks down as follows: Persian 61%, Azeri 16%, Kurd 10%, Arab 2%, Lur 6%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%.
The majority of Kurds, Baluchis and Turkmen are Sunni Muslims, while the state religion in Iran is Shi’a Islam. Iranian Azeris, a Turkic-speaking people of mixed Caucasian, Iranian and Turkic origin, who number 16 percent of Iran’s population are the largest group in Iranian Azerbaijan, while Kurds are the second largest group, and a majority in many cities of the West Azerbaijan Province. Iranian Azerbaijan is one of the richest and most densely populated regions of Iran.
Honey Bee Said:
What’s that?
CuriousAmerican Said:
I suppose not!!! 🙂
Humble Iranian Said:
My very favorite H&G professor’s parents were immigrants from Azerbaijan.
CuriousAmerican Said:
That statement is so stupid and ignorant. But typical of all your stupid and ignorant statements.
Azerbaijani-Israeli Relations and the Iranian Threat (Dispatch)
Kamila Drago (Adama)
Kamila is from Baku and came to Israel at age 13.
She is popular today in Azerbaijan
Did the US (Obama) break the secret Israeli-Azerbaijani alliance against Iran?
“The Israelis have bought an airfield and the airfield is called Azerbaijan,” said a senior administration official.
The information which was disclosed in Foreign Policy magazine stated that the Israeli-Azerbaijani alliance is deeper than both parties want others to believe.
According to the article, in 2009 a memo released by WikiLeaks quoted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev labeling the country’s relationship with Israel as an iceberg where “nine-tenths of it is below the surface.”
For years Israel and Azerbaijan have established an economic relationship. Israel buys oil from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan purchases military equipment from Israel.
Despite the Israeli-Azerbaijani relationship, Azerbaijan officials have denied that such an attack would ever be launched from Azerbaijani soil.
“Azerbaijan is home to a thriving Jewish community of about 30,000, which has lived there in peace for at least 2,000 years”
There are more Azerbaijanis living in Iran than in Azerbaijan and modern day Azerbaijan was part of Iran up until 1813. You smart Jews read the above sentence again and connect the dots!
Azerbaijan is listed by Freedom House as not free.
It fought a brutal war against Armenian Christians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Azerbaijan
There was ethnic cleansing on both sides.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_Republic#Human_rights
This view is slanted.
I suppose Christians are not considered worthwhile in the Mid and Near East