Jews recognized as Azerbaijani Europeans

Peter Lyukimson, Israel. Exclusively for VK

The Israel-Azerbaijan (AzIs) Association has joined the Congress of European Azerbaijanis (CEA). The congress has recently held its fourth meeting in Berlin. AzIs Director General Lev Spivak became the CEO of the CEA.

Answering a question on whether activists of AzIs, most of whom are Jews, could be considered “Azerbaijanis of Europe”, Lev Spivak said that there was no controversy in AzIs’s joining the CEA: “On the contrary, I think this step is natural and even late, not because we have many Azerbaijanis among our activists who came to Israel with their Jewish wives and husbands. The thing is that Azerbaijan is our second motherland. We keep the love of the Azerbaijani land in our hearts, of its people, language and traditions. Initially many directions of AzIs’s activity coincided with activity of social organizations established by Azerbaijanis in other countries. We tried to provide Israeli people with the truth about Azerbaijan and the Karabakh conflict, promote cooperation between the two countries. Accession to the CEA will enable us to coordinate this activity effectively, participate and organize wide international arrangements in support of Azerbaijan. At the same time, membership in such a prominent international organization will improve our positions within Israel.”

Meanwhile, AzIs is preparing for its session that will take place in early June. “Since the establishment of AzIs, five years have passed. And I can say that our organization has played a significant role in the development of Azerbaijani-Israeli relations,” Lev Spivak told VK. “Nobody could believe 5 years ago that relations between Israel and Azerbaijan would achieve such a level. Yes, we had diplomatic relations between our countries, but economic and other ties developed poorly. However, at the founding congress of AzIs, the Azerbaijani minister on diaspora affairs, Nazim Ibragimov, met with Israeli politicians and invited them to visit Azerbaijan, while the minister of transport, Shaul Mofaz, invited members of the Azerbaijani government to visit Israel. Later, Avigdor Lieberman arrived in Azerbaijan and agreed on Shimon Peres’s visit to Baku. The meeting of presidents Peres and Aliyev became the key moment in relations between our countries. Today Armenian propaganda calls us the main lobbyists of Azerbaijani interests in Israel and the biggest opponents of recognition of the Armenians’ genocide 1915, and we are proud of it. Yes, AzIs firmly stands against any anti-Azerbaijani actions of the Armenian lobby in Israel and try to explain the Azerbaijani position on the Karabakh conflict to Israeli citizens.”