Foreign Minister Eli Cohen Wednesday evening will travel to Turkmenistan – the central Asian country that shares a long border with Iran – to officially inaugurate a permanent Israeli embassy in the capital city of Ashgabat.
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The embassy will be the closest official Israeli mission to an Iranian border, only some 15 miles away. Cohen's visit will be the first to Turkmenistan by an Israeli foreign minister in the past 30 years. He is scheduled to meet with Turkmenistan's President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and Agriculture and Environmental Protection Minister Allanur Altyyev.
Turkmenistan, a Muslim-majority country, established relations with Israel in the run-up to its declaration of independence in 1991. About a decade ago, in light of good relations between the two states, Israel opened a temporary embassy there with a temporary structure, now permanent.
The permanent building was built specifically for the to-be-inaugurated embassy, like the Israeli mission in Azerbaijan, which also shares a border with the Islamic Republic.
Over the years, Israeli and Turkmeni senior officials have visited each other's countries, signing agreements of cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, and energy. Recently, progress has been made in the collaboration of health and cyber defense.
Cohen's visit to Turkmenistan and the embassy's inauguration are intended to send a message to Iran that Israel is a present and growing influence in the region.
On Tuesday, the foreign minister flew to Azerbaijan – a Shiite Muslim country – where he met with Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov and discussed with him regional security issues and strengthening "inter-state security ties." On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and sign cooperation agreements in the fields of investments, education and environment.
Cohen told Israel Hayom that Israel will work to double the number of Israeli tourists visiting Azerbaijan to 50,000. "I recommend that every Israeli should visit. There is almost no antisemitism here," he said.
In a statement he said, "The strategic relations between Israel and Azerbaijan are spread over security, energy, economy, and tourism. Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of Israel due to its geographical location and the fact that it is a Muslim-Shiite country that opened an embassy in Israel. The economic potential for the connection between our two economies is enormous and we will continue to work together to expand it for the benefit of our peoples."
Cohen was heading a large economic delegation that included representatives of defense, cyber security, homeland security, agriculture, and water management industries in Israel.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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