Historical backgriund to the document "From talk of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev while receiving the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Arab Republic of Egypt Ms. Faiza Abul-Naja" (Presidential Palace, October 24, 2002)


There is cooperation between Azerbaijan and Arab Republic of Egypt which develops in different spheres. Egypt is the first country in the Arab world and African continent where Azerbaijan opened its Embassy. (http://www.azembassy.org.eg/)

Heydar Aliyev and Hosni Mubarak, Presidents of the both countries, met at the UN conference on "Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994 and Islamic Summit of Casablanca in December of the same year. Bilateral relations, Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Azerbaijan`s contacts with the Arab world have been discussed during these meetings.

In his interview with the English "Azerbaijan International" review in 1995, the Egyptian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Faruq al-Hawari said that namely on Egypt`s initiative the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference held in Karachi, in 1993, adopted the declaration protesting Armenia`s occupation of the Azerbaijani lands. (http://www.azer.com/)

Agreement on security cooperation was signed between Arab Republic of Egypt and Azerbaijan in May 1996.

One of important stages of the Azerbaijani-Egyptian cooperation has begun after the visit of the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Arab Republic of Egypt Ms. Faiza Abul-Naja to Azerbaijan on October 23-25, 2002. Cooperation protocol of the joint commission representing the both countries on different fields was signed during this visit. It founded the future efficient cooperation on those spheres. (Ali Hasanov, Contemporary international relations and foreign policy of Azerbaijan, "Azerbaijan" publishing, Baku-2005, p. 419.)

Conveying the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak`s greetings to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev during her meeting with him on October 24, 2002, Faiza Abul-Naja said he wanted economic-trade contacts to be developed with Azerbaijan alongside political relations. The Egyptian minister also declared on Hosni Mubarak`s behalf that Egypt supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and delivered his visions about the tense situation in the Middle East to the Azerbaijani President.

Heydar Aliyev confirmed the importance of development of economic partnership besides political cooperation and said that the newly established joint commission would be the beginning of a new stage of economic contacts.

Declaring his agreement with Hosni Mubarak`s ideas regarding the Middle East, Heydar Aliyev said Armenia`s occupation of Azerbaijan`s territories created a danger of war again. However he stated Azerbaijan was for peace everywhere, including the Middle East.

The highest-level event in the Azerbaijani-Egyptian relations in the recent period is the visit of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Egypt in May 2007. Ilham Aliyev met and held tête-à-tête discussions with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the visit. Agreements of cooperation on the spheres of finance, tourism, justice, IT, agriculture and libraries were signed between the two countries. (http://www.azertag.com/)

Historical background was compiled on June 19, 2007.