The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, visited Ramallah on Thursday and met with the Palestinian Authority’s official in charge of foreign affairs, Riyad Al-Maliki.
During the meeting, the two agreed that Azerbaijan would open a diplomatic office in Ramallah soon, according to the Anadolu news agency.
A statement from Al-Maliki’s office quoted the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister as saying that his country “will open this year a diplomatic representation office in the State of Palestine.”
Commenting on the move, Al-Maliki said, “We look forward to your next visit to the State of Palestine to officially open the representative office.”
“This decision enhances cooperation with the Republic of Azerbaijan in many fields of culture, tourism, education, scientific research and development, and would contribute to strengthening and consolidating relations between our two countries in areas of common interest,” he added.
Al-Maliki expressed his hope that “the level of representation will be raised to the level of an embassy soon.”
He pointed out that Palestine and Azerbaijan “have relations based on brotherhood and friendship, and their peoples are linked to similar historical, religious and cultural values.”
The announcement followed the opening of the Azeri embassy in Tel Aviv this week, in an event attended by senior officials from both foreign ministries as well as by Foreign Ministers Eli Cohen and Bayramov.
Earlier in the week, President Isaac Herzog accepted the credentials of Mukhtar Mammadov, the first Ambassador to Israel of Azerbaijan.
Last November, the Azerbaijani parliament announced its historic decision to open an embassy in Israel.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev later signed an order on the establishment of the embassy, which will be located in Tel Aviv, and will be the first embassy in Israel of a country with a Shiite majority and a Shiite government.
Azerbaijan, which has bilateral ties with Israel, opened a trade representation office in Israel in 2021.
