WUF13

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Azerbaijan, Hossam El-Din Effat Mustafa Reda was interviewed by APA.

Egyptian-Azerbaijani relations are excellent 

- My first question is about how would you characterize the current state of diplomatic relations between our countries? 

- I would characterize it as excellent. Back to the point of bilateral relations, we have reached milestones that were never reached before. The highest one of them was the exchange of visits at the level of head of state.

So President Sisi visited Azerbaijan in 2023, and President Ilham Aliyev visited Egypt in 2024 on a bilateral function. And these are the two highest visits that we have had ever since we established diplomatic relations after the liberation of Azerbaijan, the second liberation of Azerbaijan. I have to highlight that it is the second one because we had one early in the 20th century. So congratulations and always a prosperous Azerbaijan.

I am more than confident that flights will increase to Sharm el-Sheikh

- Currently, direct flights from Baku to Sharm el-Sheikh are operating successfully. Are there any plans to increase the frequency of these flights, and can we expect the launch of direct flights to Cairo or other Egyptian cities? 

- Well, I am very, very glad that we have direct flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

The increased frequency is, at the end of the day, flight operators are an entity that needs to make profit. So I am more than confident that they will increase to Sharm el-Sheikh based on the very positive feedback I have been receiving from lots of Azerbaijanis who have now made Sharm el-Sheikh a yearly destination at least. People who go to Sharm el-Sheikh, they fall in love with Sharm el-Sheikh, and they visit it more than once.

So Sharm el-Sheikh, inshallah, it will increase based on the interest of the Azerbaijani people. It is also a place where we have a lot of Egyptians and foreign resident communities who might be interested in visiting Azerbaijan. So this one I am confident.

I am also very optimistic about future plans to establish new routes. We need to link Baku and Cairo, the two capitals. But there are some hurdles on the way.

One of them is the delay we have suffered in the supply chains because of COVID, global economic crisis, and all of that. But it is underway, and I think that whenever we establish this, and I hope very soon, already we have chartered seasonal flights between Cairo and Baku. But I think once it is there, and the Egyptian tourists discover more Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijanis go to Cairo, I think that it will be a very successful, hopefully, daily flight.

We need to facilitate the access of Egyptians to Azerbaijan

- Your Excellency, are there any plans to make easier the visa process to encourage tourism between our countries? 

- Yes, we have had discussions last September, the political consultations between both foreign affairs held in Cairo, and we have agreed that we will have discussions at the consular level in facilitating the access of both Azerbaijanis to Egypt and Egyptians to Azerbaijan. But let me tackle the issue of Azerbaijanis in Egypt. You are already, when it comes to Sharm el-Sheikh, specifically as a direct destination, you are allowing to have visa on arrival.

We need to expand that to Cairo and all of that, and we also need to facilitate the access of Egyptians to Azerbaijan. So it will be hopefully discussed during this year when we have the consular consultation between both countries.

Azerbaijanis and Egyptians are incredibly similar

- What can you say about the cultural and humanitarian relations between Azerbaijan and Egypt? Are there any plans to expand them, and especially educational programs, student exchange programs?

- Azerbaijanis and Egyptians are incredibly similar. We have the same values, we have the same religion, we have the same culture, we have the same respect for family, we have everything that should be there, and we are not aware of it. And I will give you a definite proof of this.

Ask any Azerbaijani who has visited Egypt, he would say, I felt home. And ask any Egyptian who comes to Azerbaijan, he would say, I felt home. And then ask, what do you mean? They eat like us. They treat the family as us, the concept, the respect of women, the importance of family gatherings, the way they eat, the meals, the composition, everything is the same. So we have a hidden treasure that we are not capitalizing on.

So we need to be aware of that. What I always say, this actually has become more of a slogan. “What unites us is much more than what divides us”.

But we need to be aware of that. The exchange, having students study universities and all of that. Azerbaijan and Egypt, both of them, they look outwards for education sometimes.

We have people who are privileged or highly successful in their studies, and we say, let's invest in their education. We always look not at each other, we look at different facilities around the world. I will not really take the time to mention which.

But now, do Azerbaijanis know that Egypt has at least 10 universities in the top 500 in the world? They don't. It is not being advertised. Do we know that you have top universities? No, it is not being advertised.

Egypt can relate very strongly to how Azerbaijanis feel about Karabakh

- Reconstruction work is currently underway in Karabakh and East Zangezur. Is there any discussion about Egyptian companies taking part in these projects? 

- Well, I don't know if this is something that is known for most Azerbaijanis. But Egypt can relate very strongly to how Azerbaijanis feel about Karabakh.

We've had the same situation in recent history where part of our land was occupied. We liberated Sinai from Israel in the 1973 war and subsequent agreements until the final liberation of the final piece of land, which is Taba. So, we know how it means, what it means to the national pride.

So, we are not just interested, but we understand how it feels to each and every proud Azerbaijan. We have been there, we have managed our experience, and it is a successful one. And we want, as Egyptians, to help people achieve what we have achieved.

So, yes, we are very much interested. Yes, we have expressed our interest. And we are already helping in different ways.

So far, we are not involved in the reconstruction itself. But let me tell you and tell all your audience that we are in something that is essential for the reconstruction. We are cooperating with Azerbaijan in cleaning the land, the demining process.

We have companies that have built countries, whether in the Middle East or in Africa. And when I mean by countries, I actually mean countries. They were not on the Urban map before the contractors from Egypt went and built them.

We have companies that are building dams. We have companies that are building compounds, cities at large.

- As we know, Baku is preparing to host the World Urban Forum. At what level will Egypt be represented at this forum? And what will be key messages your country intends to convey?

- Well, first of all, we wish Baku all the success in its hosting. It has had a very, very successful experience in hosting COP29. And you asked your previous question how, and this once again will take me to the question “what unites us is much more than what divides us”.

You have hosted COP29, and then you are having the WUF. Egypt hosted COP27, then it had the previous WUF. So you see we are almost walking on a very similar path.

What are the messages we want to preserve? Because we have had our messages in the previous WUF, which was in Egypt. The key one is the interdependence of WUF and COP.

One is based on the other. If we don't preserve environment at large, there will be no urban development, nothing. So this is one of the key messages, that development has to go hand in hand with urbanization.

What will be the ideas put on the floor by Azerbaijan during this forum? I am sure that it will be very well deliberated and that it will have the support of the Egyptian delegation. I can assure you of this.

Egypt has never wavered its position regarding Palestine

- Palestine has always been at the heart of Egypt's foreign policy. Given the current tensions, are there any approaches or shifts in Egypt's stance on this issue? 

- Egypt has never wavered its position. It has always been very clear. It has always been the one continuous supporter of the Palestinian rights in their free countries.

Back to the June 1967 borders with their capital as Jerusalem. This is very clear. What we are seeing today is unfortunately the failure of the collective will to do what is right.

We are seeing an incursion that is against all United Nations resolutions. It is against human rights. It is against the international legal framework, perpetuated by one single country.

So, I here take the chance to commend the position of Azerbaijan, of its statements supporting clearly the right of self-determination of the Palestinians, and the two-state solution.

Crisis of Gaza will remain clear message of the duplicity of standards

- What is the current status of the Rafah border, crossing operations, and the overall humanitarian situation there?

- The Rafah crossing is usually a very tricky question, because people perceive it as a one-way door. It is not.

It is like a corridor where there are two parties. You know that when you travel, the interconnecting rooms, it's two doors. You open one in your room, but the other side needs to open the door.

Otherwise, you have no access. So, whenever we say we always, the international community always sheds the light at the door in the Egyptian room, but never at the door in the Gaza area, which is completely and unilaterally controlled by the Israelis. And unfortunately for us, it doesn't matter if we open our door, and it has always been open, the other part doesn't open the door.

Hence, all humanitarian aid cannot pass. And we have seen, even though we had a bright light starting to shine when we started after February, allowing more access and more humanitarian flow, then we had the current situation in the Middle East with Iran and everything. And of course, the Israeli government thought that it is the golden opportunity to close, once again, their door in the Rafah crossing.

Hence, decreasing, if not totally stopping all humanitarian aid. And we have, unfortunately, become very, very tolerant of the daily sights of seeing children starving to death, and women and elderly medicine not finding food, not finding water. And it is, the crisis of Gaza will remain a very, very clear message of the duplicity of standards.

Egypt is mediating to have the ceasefire between the US and Iran, then to have it hold

- And my last question is about what does Egypt think about the growing tensions in the region, especially around Iran? 

- Well, Egypt always stands firm with the rule of law. And we have called, and we are a peace broker. Egypt has always been a peace broker.

We are mediating with Türkiye and Pakistan, with the Americans and the Iranians, to have the ceasefire, first to have the ceasefire, then to have it hold. We hope that this will be the swiftest time possible.

Of course, the Gulf countries are the primary countries who were affected. And we have condemned the Iranian retaliation against the Gulf countries more than one time. But I will say now that it has become a global crisis.

And even the World Bank has decreased its projection of growth on a global scale. Humanity needs to take its breath.We've had COVID, and this is a natural threat. It is not a mandate. And we've had the situation between Russia and the Ukraine has affected the global economy. Then we have Gaza, which did not affect that much, and then we have the Iran situation when flow of Hormuz strait is heavily impacted the world again because of double standard. 

More than 30 percent of the global energy passes through that strait. So if you have an energy crisis globally, it will affect transportation, and transportation in a way affects everything that we do. 
 

Photo - Ilkin Nabiyev  ©️ APA Group