Baku/26.04.23/Turan: Azerbaijan reported last week that it had lost its sole observation satellite. Israel Aerospace Industries has been chosen to supply Azerbaijan with two satellites for $120 million, Haaretz has learned.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who visited Baku last week, confirmed in an interview with Times of Israel that Azerbaijan “chose an Israeli company in a satellite procurement deal.
Azerbaijan operates two communications and one observation satellite. Last week its national space agency, Azercosmos, reported that it had lost contact with the observation satellite a year before it was due to complete its mission. Azercosmos attributed the problem to the satellite being damaged by space debris or a meteorite. Attempts by the agency and the satellite’s manufacturer, Airbus, to restore communications failed.
The space agency also said that it had launched a project for “a new, higher-resolution observation satellite project, which responds to the challenges of modern technological development in accordance with the wishes of local institutions.” This may be the background to the satellite deal being worked out with IAI.
Israel enjoys warm relations with Azerbaijan, and has, over the years, sold Baku advanced military technology worth billions of dollars. A recent Haaretz investigation revealed dozens of cargo flights from Baku to an Israeli airstrip near Eilat, used for export of explosives.
Based on extensive media reports and official statements and videos, Israel has exported a wide range of military equipment – from the Tavor rifle to its most sophisticated technology, including radar, air defense systems, anti-tank and ballistic missiles, ships and a variety of drones – both for intelligence and attack purposes.
Israeli companies have also supplied advanced spy tech, such as communications monitoring systems from Verint and the Pegasus spyware from the NSO Group – tools that were used against journalists, the LGBT community and human rights activists in Azerbaijan, too. -0-
Politics
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The first group of residents of the city of Shusha, who were forced to leave their homes 32 years ago, returned to Shusha. On May 10, the opening of the first residential complex took place with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. 20 families, including 88 people, were the first to settle in it. The residential complex of 23 four-storey buildings is built on an area of 8 hectares.
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The activities of the OSCE Minsk Group were directed against the Azerbaijani people. France and the United States have "taken up arms against Azerbaijan today," President Ilham Aliyev said. “The 28-year-old activities of the Minsk Group have been directed against the Azerbaijani people. Their false promises and inaction were not accidental. They didn't want to solve this issue. They promised these lands to the Armenians. Just as in Soviet times the pro-Armenian Gorbachev and then Yeltsin promised these lands to the Armenians, so did France and America make such promises to them. And today, look who, as they say, plays the main role among those who turned against us – France and America. We must openly say that France is the most," Aliyev said on May 10, speaking at the ceremony of handing over the keys to the apartments to the first residents who returned to Shusha.
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On May 10, the head of state arrived in Shusha, where he got acquainted with the construction and restoration work. Aliyev took part in the opening of the first residential complex and met with its residents. Then he took part in the opening ceremony of a number of historical sites.
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On May 10, a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia began in Almaty with the mediation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. According to local media reports, Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu initially expressed confidence that the talks would help establish lasting peace in the South Caucasus. "Kazakhstan is ready to impartially carry out the mission of good offices in the good office format, without pretending to be an intermediary," he said.
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