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Azerbaijan–Greece relations

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Azerbaijani-Greek relations
Map indicating locations of Azerbaijan and Greece

Azerbaijan
Greece

In 1991 Azerbaijan recovered its independence from the Soviet Union which was recognized by Greece in December 31, 1991. Diplomatic relations established in 1992. The Greek embassy in Baku was opened in the spring of 1993. The embassy of Azerbaijan in Athens was opened in August 2004.

Both countries are full members of Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). Greece was the first European Union member country that wanted directly import gas from Azerbaijan.[1] Both countries enjoyed recently developed close relations in trade, culture, and economy.[2] Greek diaspora in Azerbaijan is concentrated in Baku and numbers about 250-300 people, most of them are descendants of the Black Sea Greeks of Asia Minor who in the late 19th and early 20th centuries migrated to Azerbaijan.[3]

Political and commercial relations

Foreign Minister of Greece Dimitris Avramopoulos (right) meeting with the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Abulfas Garayev in April 2013

The nations of Azerbaijan and Greece each maintain bi-lateral, diplomatic relations. Each state maintains a full embassy, Azerbaijan in Athens and Greece in Baku. Recently in February 2009, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Greece in order to boost bilateral relations.[4] The leader met with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, as well as the Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.[4] At the meeting between the officials, the two nations agreed that they must work more closely to get Azeri gas into Greece to help ease recent security issues.[5][6]

In the past the two nations have made many deals related to the oil industry. In 2007 Greek Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas signed a "memorandum of cooperation" in the sectors of natural gas and oil while in Baku.[7][8] Sioufas referred to this memorandum as a "new page in economic and energy relations of the two countries."[8]

Cooporation on Human rights

Greek MP Elsa Papadimitriou as Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, visited Azerbaijan to her collaborator Oqtay Asadov the Chairman of Azeri Parliament and Justice Minister Fikrat Mammadov and head of the department for law enforcement egancy Fuad Alasgarov.[9] Finally she attended a seminar with the Chairman of the State Committee for Religious Organizations Hidayat Orujov.[10]

Tourism

In a meeting in New York Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos expressed his interest to Elmar Mammadyarov in developing cooperation with Azerbaijan in the tourism sector.[11] Azeri tourists to Greece rapidly grow, exceeding 225000 in 2011 with the most popular destination being Santorini.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Greece "wants to be first" EU member to directly import Azeri gas
  2. ^ General look on Greece-Azerbaijan foreign relations
  3. ^ Greece in the World
  4. ^ a b "Azerbaijan, Greece aim to boost relations". Southeast Europe Times. February 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  5. ^ "Greece, Azerbaijan to work closer on energy security". EUbusiness. February 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  6. ^ "Azerbaijan plans to export gas to Europe via Greece: Azerbaijani president". Trend Capital. 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  7. ^ "Greece, Azerbaijan sign energy cooperation memorandum". Athens News Agency. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  8. ^ a b "Greece and Azerbaijan sign energy cooperation agreement". Journal of Turkish Weekly (JTW). August 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  9. ^ http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1925389.html
  10. ^ http://www.jlc.gov.az/e_view_index.php?id=91
  11. ^ http://www.azerbaijan.az/_Sosiety/_Tourism/_tourism_e.html
  12. ^ http://greekreporter.com/atatravel-partners-with-greek-tourism-company-in-azerbaijan/
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