Azerbaijan |
Greece |
In the 9th B.C., the seminomadic Scythians settled in areas of present day Azerbaijan. A century later, the Medes, who were related ethnically to the Persians, established an empire that included southernmost Azerbaijan. The Archaemenid Persians, under Cyrus the Great, took over the western part of Azerbaijan when they subdued the Assyrian Empire to the west. In 330 B.C., Alexander the Great absorbed the entire Archaemenid Empire into his holdings, leaving Persian satraps to govern as they advanced eastward.[1] During 6th century Byzantine Empire established relations with Caucasian Albania [2]
Uzun Hassan was married with Greek princess Desphina and he have defended Empire of Trebizond against to Ottoman army. Hassan's grandson Ismail I was the founder of Safavid dynasty and remains as a national hero of Azerbaijan. During Russian rule of Azerbaijan and Ottoman rule of Greece relations between these two were totally stopped. Azerbaijan got established a democratic republic in 1918 [3][4][5] but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920.[6] Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991 which was recognized by Greece in December 31, 1991. Diplomatic relations established in 1992. The Greek embassy in Baku was opened in the spring of 1993. The embassy of Azerbaijan in Athens was opened in August 2004.
Both countries are full members of Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). Greece was the first European Union member country that wanted directly import gas from Azerbaijan.[7] Both countries enjoyed recently developed close relations in trade, culture, and economy.[8] Greek diaspora in Azerbaijan is concentrated in Baku and numbers about 250-300 people, most of them are descendants of the Black Sea Greeks of Asia Minor who in the late 19th-early 20th centuries migrated to Azerbaijan.[9]
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The nations of Azerbaijan and Greece each maintain bi-lateral, diplomatic relations. Each state maintains a full embassy, Azerbaijan in Athens and Greece in Baku. Recently in February 2009, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Greece in order to boost bilateral relations.[10] The leader met with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, as well as the Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.[10] At the meeting between the officials, the two nations agreed that they must work more closely to get Azeri gas into Greece to help ease recent security issues.[11][12]
In the past the two nations have made many deals related to the oil industry. In 2007 Greek Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas signed a "memorandum of cooperation" in the sectors of natural gas and oil while in Baku.[13][14] Sioufas referred to this memorandum as a "new page in economic and energy relations of the two countries."[14]
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