Azerbaijan's Quba and Israel's Maalot-Tarshiha Cities to Become Sister Cities

Lev Spivak, Director General of the “AzIz” Israel-Azerbaijan International Association, said this in a statement to Oxu.Az. 

As we reported, from September 29 to October 6, a delegation consisting of mayors and deputy mayors from a number of Israeli cities will visit Azerbaijan. The delegation’s visit was organized by the “AzIz” association. 

“There is a preliminary agreement on sister-city ties between Azerbaijan’s Quba and Israel’s Maalot-Tarshiha. I very much hope that the document will be signed during our delegation’s current visit to Azerbaijan,” L. Spivak said, adding that the “AzIz” association has been implementing a sister cities program for many years. 

According to him, the delegation includes mayors and deputy mayors from 12 Israeli cities. 

“Given that Israel has a total of 67 cities, this is quite a lot. In our country, cities and city mayors are considered the ‘legs’ of Israeli politics. These people are activists from various parties, and over time they become members of the Knesset,” the “AzIz” Director General noted. 

L. Spivak said that the delegation also includes people of Azerbaijani origin. 

“Notably, Maalot-Tarshiha Mayor Arkadi Pomeranets and the deputy mayors Adam Amilov from Kiryat Yam and Mikhail Sutovsky from Holon are of Azerbaijani origin,” he added. 

According to L. Spivak, as part of the visit the delegation will hold meetings with Fuad Muradov, Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Work with the Diaspora; the Minister of Taxes and co-chair of the Azerbaijan–Israel intergovernmental commission, Mikayil Jabbarov; and Rovshan Rzayev, head of the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, and—together with leaders of the republic’s Jewish religious communities—will visit the Heydar Aliyev Center and the Milli Majlis.

The visit program also includes trips to Quba, Quba’s Red Settlement, Sumgayit, the Gobustan State Historical and Architectural Reserve, and the Ateshgah temple. 

“Every year, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, we hold various cultural events in Azerbaijan. This time, our events will take place on the eve of the mayors’ visit. Specifically, there will be a meeting at the Maksud Ibrahimbeyov Creative Center with the winners of the ‘Nasimi-650’ poetry competition held in Israel. At the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art, there will be a concert by the renowned Israeli flutist Anatoliya Kogan,” L. Slivak noted. 

At present, there are sister-city partnerships between Israel and Azerbaijan: Mingachevir – Afula, Ismayilli – Kiryat-Bialik, Shamakhi – Tirat Carmel, Gabala - Yokneam.