Baku says it is ready to host trilateral summit with Israel, Turkey

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's foreign policy adviser Hikmet Hajiyev said that Baku is ready to host a trilateral summit with Israel and Turkey. "Turkey is a sister country of Azerbaijan and Israel is our strategic partner. We want our friends to be friends with each other," he said.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev (L) and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu are seen in this file photo.

Duvar English

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's foreign policy adviser Hikmet Hajiyev has said that Baku is ready to host a trilateral summit with Israel and Turkey, noting that the country wants "its friends to be friends with each other." 

In an interview with Israel Hayom, Hajiyev deemed the Israeli-Turkish rapprochement highly important, adding that Baku believes that the two countries share similar interests. 

"Turkey is a sister country of Azerbaijan and Israel is our strategic partner. We want our friends to be friends with each other. If the sides agree to such an initiative, then Azerbaijan will always welcome them," Hajiyev said. 

"We believe that Israel and Turkey share similar interests. We believe that cooperation between them also serves these interests. Azerbaijan does everything it can to improve this relationship," he noted.

The adviser also commented on the relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, saying that it's strategic. 

"Our relationship is not predicated on words. It is strategic. We understand one another. I think the backbone of the relationship is actually the connection between the peoples. Israeli-Azeri relations are built on honest historic understanding," Hajiyev said. 

"There have been many attempts to harm our cooperation, even though good relations with Azerbaijan are an interest of the Jewish people across the globe," he added.