Azerbaijan wishes normalisation of relations between Turkey, Israel

Press spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Elman Abdullayev on Friday said that his country favored the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel. Azerbaijan would make all necessary contributions to negotiations designed to normalize Turkish-Israeli relations, Abdullayev noted. Speaking at a press conference in Baku, Abdullayev stressed that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov would pay formal visits to Israel and Palestine between April 21 and 23. Reminding that Azerbaijan was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Abdullayev indicated that Minister Mammadyarov would hold high level talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials within the context of Middle East peace process. Asked whether news reports arguing Azerbaijan would play a role in the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel were accurate, Abdullayev stated that "Turkey was a brother and ally". "We cooperate with Israel on some issues. We favor the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel. About our role...I can not talk about a definite incident. We favor deescalation of tension between Turkey and Israel. We support this process," Abdullayev stressed. " Azerbaijan will continue to support Palestine. We have an unchangeable attitude regarding Palestine. We look at the problems in the region from a prism which solves the problems of the region based on two states:Israel and Palestine whose capital is East Jerusalem," Abdullayev also said.