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ISRAELI GOVERNMENT'S POSITION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT IS AMBIGUOUS, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR SAYS
APA, Azerbaijan
July 12 2014
[ 12 July 2014 14:49 ]
"We're fighting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, not the people of
Palestine"
Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloglu - APA. "Israel and Azerbaijan have good
relations", Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rafael Harpaz said in
his interview to APA.
The Ambassador said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President
Shimon Peres in the Davos Economic Forum in 2013. He recalled
the mutual visits of foreign ministers of the two countries Elmar
Mammadyarov and Avigdor Liberman as well as the visits of Azerbaijani
Minister of Agriculture Heydar Asadov and Chairman of the Parliament's
Committee on international and inter-parliamentary relations Samad
Seyidov to Israel and the visits of Israeli parliamentarians to
Azerbaijan.
The Ambassador noted that as part of the visit, Liberman and Elmar
MAmmadyarov signed an agreement on bilateral political consultations:
"Agreements were signed on oncology and visa facilitation for
diplomatic and official passport holders and I think that the latter
will come into force in early October. I would like to underline the
cooperation in the energy sector. Israel imports a certain portion
of oil from Azerbaijan. Recently, new gas fields were discovered in
Israel. We don't know how to exploit these fields. Therefore, we are
working to establish a body like the State Oil Fund in Azerbaijan. We
would like to benefit from Azerbaijan's practice in this sphere.
Knesset members had visited Azerbaijan in this regard", he emphasized.
The diplomat stated that there are opportunities to boost cooperation
in the academic field. "We see the increasing number of Azerbaijani
students studying in Israel. I would like a bilateral cooperation to
be established between Israeli and Azerbaijani universities.
Representatives of one of Israel's largest universities, the University
of Haifa, are expected to visit Azerbaijan in near future and establish
relations with universities here.
The Ambassador recalled that the Israeli government has an ambiguous
position regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "We are in favor of
peaceful solution to problems and supporting the OSCE Minsk Group and
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. This is the position of Israel",
he added.
The Israeli Ambassador also spoke of the incidents in the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations have fired more
than 540 missiles over Israel. They purposefully fire missiles at
Israeli hospitals, schools and residential areas in order to kill
civilians. They use civilians as a protective means. There is no
country in the world that is facing such a reality as Israel is.
Rockets are fired from Gaza at holy places as well. 4 million Israelis
faced this threat. Of course, we will respond to that and attack Gaza.
We, unlike Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Organization, feel guilty for
each murdered Palestinian and regret it. But this is the fault of
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, the terrorist organizations. They have
been shooting missiles for the last 3 weeks, and we kept silent. But
they have now exceeded boundaries. Over 120 missiles were fired over
Israel just yesterday alone. We are seeking tranquility. We hope Hamas
and other terrorist organizations will calm down once and for all in
near future and put an end to their anti-Israel campaigns".
The ambassador noted that the issue must be judged in regional context:
"Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are extremist organizations.
Despite some differences, the ideologies of these organizations are
similar to those of ISIS and Hezbollah. The international community
is supporting us. British Foreign Minister William Hague, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande
expressed their support for Israel during their speeches yesterday.
I'd also like to remark great support from the U.S. We are peaceful
people, but we also need to protect ourselves.
The diplomat also said his country will launch ground offensives in
near future: "Our preparations for this are underway. If somebody hits
you, will you bend your head down or fight back? You will fight back.
Nevertheless, we are still sending humanitarian aid, food, and drugs
to Gaza. Which country in the world is sending food and aid to its
enemy? We are fighting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, not the people
of Palestine".
The ambassador mentioned that the situation has aggravated even
more after 3 Israeli youths were killed by Hamas: "In fact, media is
distorting the truth about it. Because Hamas were shooting missiles
over Israel before the youths were kidnapped and killed. But later
on, they started shooting missiles more frequently. While they used
to shoot one missile over Israel per day, CNN, for instance, used to
overlook that information, because it was less important to them.
Azerbaijani media didn't stress these incidents either. There's no
need to investigate the death of those three youths as well, because
it's no secret that they were killed by Hamas. Only Hamas could have
done it. Hamas kills children right after capturing them. We know that,
and there's no need to investigate".
The ambassador said Israel forewarns civilians of the sites to be
bombed: "Hamas, however, is not thinking about Palestinians when
launching rockets and missiles. Hamas fires missiles at schools,
hospitals, hotels, and residential areas without any distinction.
APA, Azerbaijan
July 12 2014
[ 12 July 2014 14:49 ]
"We're fighting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, not the people of
Palestine"
Baku. Ramiz Mikayiloglu - APA. "Israel and Azerbaijan have good
relations", Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rafael Harpaz said in
his interview to APA.
The Ambassador said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President
Shimon Peres in the Davos Economic Forum in 2013. He recalled
the mutual visits of foreign ministers of the two countries Elmar
Mammadyarov and Avigdor Liberman as well as the visits of Azerbaijani
Minister of Agriculture Heydar Asadov and Chairman of the Parliament's
Committee on international and inter-parliamentary relations Samad
Seyidov to Israel and the visits of Israeli parliamentarians to
Azerbaijan.
The Ambassador noted that as part of the visit, Liberman and Elmar
MAmmadyarov signed an agreement on bilateral political consultations:
"Agreements were signed on oncology and visa facilitation for
diplomatic and official passport holders and I think that the latter
will come into force in early October. I would like to underline the
cooperation in the energy sector. Israel imports a certain portion
of oil from Azerbaijan. Recently, new gas fields were discovered in
Israel. We don't know how to exploit these fields. Therefore, we are
working to establish a body like the State Oil Fund in Azerbaijan. We
would like to benefit from Azerbaijan's practice in this sphere.
Knesset members had visited Azerbaijan in this regard", he emphasized.
The diplomat stated that there are opportunities to boost cooperation
in the academic field. "We see the increasing number of Azerbaijani
students studying in Israel. I would like a bilateral cooperation to
be established between Israeli and Azerbaijani universities.
Representatives of one of Israel's largest universities, the University
of Haifa, are expected to visit Azerbaijan in near future and establish
relations with universities here.
The Ambassador recalled that the Israeli government has an ambiguous
position regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "We are in favor of
peaceful solution to problems and supporting the OSCE Minsk Group and
Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. This is the position of Israel",
he added.
The Israeli Ambassador also spoke of the incidents in the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations have fired more
than 540 missiles over Israel. They purposefully fire missiles at
Israeli hospitals, schools and residential areas in order to kill
civilians. They use civilians as a protective means. There is no
country in the world that is facing such a reality as Israel is.
Rockets are fired from Gaza at holy places as well. 4 million Israelis
faced this threat. Of course, we will respond to that and attack Gaza.
We, unlike Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Organization, feel guilty for
each murdered Palestinian and regret it. But this is the fault of
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, the terrorist organizations. They have
been shooting missiles for the last 3 weeks, and we kept silent. But
they have now exceeded boundaries. Over 120 missiles were fired over
Israel just yesterday alone. We are seeking tranquility. We hope Hamas
and other terrorist organizations will calm down once and for all in
near future and put an end to their anti-Israel campaigns".
The ambassador noted that the issue must be judged in regional context:
"Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are extremist organizations.
Despite some differences, the ideologies of these organizations are
similar to those of ISIS and Hezbollah. The international community
is supporting us. British Foreign Minister William Hague, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande
expressed their support for Israel during their speeches yesterday.
I'd also like to remark great support from the U.S. We are peaceful
people, but we also need to protect ourselves.
The diplomat also said his country will launch ground offensives in
near future: "Our preparations for this are underway. If somebody hits
you, will you bend your head down or fight back? You will fight back.
Nevertheless, we are still sending humanitarian aid, food, and drugs
to Gaza. Which country in the world is sending food and aid to its
enemy? We are fighting Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, not the people
of Palestine".
The ambassador mentioned that the situation has aggravated even
more after 3 Israeli youths were killed by Hamas: "In fact, media is
distorting the truth about it. Because Hamas were shooting missiles
over Israel before the youths were kidnapped and killed. But later
on, they started shooting missiles more frequently. While they used
to shoot one missile over Israel per day, CNN, for instance, used to
overlook that information, because it was less important to them.
Azerbaijani media didn't stress these incidents either. There's no
need to investigate the death of those three youths as well, because
it's no secret that they were killed by Hamas. Only Hamas could have
done it. Hamas kills children right after capturing them. We know that,
and there's no need to investigate".
The ambassador said Israel forewarns civilians of the sites to be
bombed: "Hamas, however, is not thinking about Palestinians when
launching rockets and missiles. Hamas fires missiles at schools,
hospitals, hotels, and residential areas without any distinction.