Azerbaijan announced this week the appointment of its first ever ambassador to Israel.
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According to state news outlet Haqqin.az, Deputy Minister of Science and Education Mukhtar Mammadov has been appointed to the role.
The news was welcomed in Israel, with Israeli Ambassador to Baku George Deek tweeting, "Congratulations and good luck to the first Azerbaijani ambassador to Israel!"
Born in 1983 in Baku, Mammadov worked in the Foreign Ministry from 2005 to 2013, including work at the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium from 2009 to 2013.
Since 2013, under the Education Ministry, Mammadov has been head of the international cooperation department. In April 2021, he became the Deputy Minister of Science and Education. In this capacity, Mammadov supervised projects of innovative cooperation with Israel in the field of science and education.
Mammadov is fluent in Russian, English and Turkish.
"I warmly congratulate my colleague Mukhtar Mammadov on being appointed as the first ambassador of Azerbaijan to Israel," tweeted Mammad Talibov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, and Honduras. "I wish you the best and greatest success in your endeavors and in your new role."
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The announcement comes after Azerbaijan announced in November that it would open an embassy in Israel. A month earlier, then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Azerbaijan to discuss policy and foster defense cooperation.
Last April, Azerbaijan opened a tourism office in Israel for the first time and signed a cooperation agreement. The month also marked the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Both Israel and Azerbaijan see Iran as a threat. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Israel buys 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan and supplied 27% of Azerbaijan's major arms imports from 2011 to 2020, including 69% from 2016 to 2020.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
