Azerbaijani Canadians Reaching Out As Israel Voices Support

As yet another shaky ceasefire was announced, following more attacks by Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel remained as strong as ever.

In two missile attacks on Ganja last Saturday, children were among about two dozen civilian deaths with over 50 injured. The second-largest Azerbaijani city is far from the front lines, and had endured three previous attacks by Armenia since the outbreak of combat on September 27, in which a total of 11 were killed and 70 wounded.

Leyla Ekberova, mother of two, was living with her family of 15 in one of the 20 houses bombed. “Our house was severely damaged. […] the officials told us that we should not stay there and that the house could collapse at any moment.”

With casualties and injuries almost doubled and hundreds already displaced, Azeri officials utilized a dormitory left unoccupied due to the pandemic, to alleviate the suffering of Ekberova and other victims.

Ibrahim Caferov, head of the Azerbaijan Agriculture State University, told Andolu Agency, “35 families, consisting of 110 people, have been staying [in the dorm] for about four days. We are serving [the victims] three meals a day,” Caferov said. “Families can stay here for 2 more months with the current facilities available.”

After announcing a ceasefire for October 18 at 6 p.m., the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia were scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Friday.  About 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory – including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions – has been under illegal Armenian occupation since a 1994 ceasefire. Azerbaijan’s U.S. ambassador, Elin Suleymanov, was open to a rendezvous between the ministers during the process, stressing, “We want a substantive conversation.” 

Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan George Deek said the Jewish State was ready to provide humanitarian aid, according to Azeri news agency Trend.

After a briefing by officials, he said “”We strongly condemn the targeting of civilians. We are deeply moved by the recent events in Ganja, Mingachevir, Barda, Tartar and other cities and regions of Azerbaijan, when civilians, including children, were injured and killed as a result of intense missile and heavy artillery attacks. In connection with the tragedy, I express my deepest condolences and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.” 

On Thursday Ambassador Deek went to the scene in Ganja and paid his respects to the deceased, laying flowers in their memory atop the rubble. A statement was released by four Jewish organizations, affirming “with full confidence that Azerbaijanis are peaceful, tolerant people … tolerant and hospitable to its citizens including various minority peoples.”