“Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing countries in the East African region and considered one of the centers of ancient civilization”

“First of all, let me say that it is not right to regard Ethiopia as a usual African country. Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing countries on the African continent, as well as in the East African region and is considered one of the centers of ancient civilization in the world. The people of this country have had a tradition of statehood since ancient times. Headquarters of the African Union, that is one of the largest organizations in the world, is located in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa is therefore often referred to as the diplomatic capital of Africa. The president showed great confidence in me and signed two orders on my appointment as the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union”, newly-appointed Azerbaijani Ambassador to Ethiopia, Permanent Representative to the African Union Elman Abdullayev said in his interview.

Answering the questions about the reasons of the development of relations between Azerbaijan and African countries in recent years, Abdullayev noted that one need to understand the concept of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy for understanding it.

“Azerbaijan's foreign policy envisages diversification and balance, aims at developing bilateral relations with all countries, international organizations. Enhancement in our diplomatic relations and increase in the number of our friends are observed as our country is strengthening. This is one of our priorities. Up to now, we have established relations with the countries of the African Union within the various organizations and international events. We will have opportunities to create more direct relations from now on”, he said.

The ambassador noted that Baku is ready to gain new partners and work with them in cultural and a number of economic fields in terms of inter-parliamentary relations.

“There are great opportunities in the countries of the African Union and Azerbaijan assesses these opportunities. There are broad prospects in African countries especially for either the development of tourism or production and sale of food products. In other words, Africa can be regarded as a great market for investment. Azerbaijan can take place in this market”, he said.

Abdullayev said that he will fulfill two missions.

“First is to develop bilateral relations with Ethiopia and second is to improve and develop the institutional cooperation with the African Union. However, most importantly, I will try to promote the Azerbaijani realities in Ethiopia and the countries of the African Union and to provide the politicians with accurate and detailed information on the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. This is also the priority of the diplomatic course that Azerbaijan pursues. Our goal is to thoroughly inform the local communities about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and make friends by expressing our right position.