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Azerbaijan Appoints First Ever Ambassador to Israel amid Iran Row 

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)
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Azerbaijan Appoints First Ever Ambassador to Israel amid Iran Row 

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev listens during a joint press conference whit his Serbian counterpart at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade on November 23, 2022. (AFP)

Azerbaijan appointed its first ever ambassador to Israel on Wednesday amid escalating tensions with its large southern neighbor Iran. 

President Ilham Aliyev signed a presidential decree appointing Mukhtar Mammadov, a veteran official who has held posts in the foreign and education ministries, as Baku's first envoy to Israel after 30 years of bilateral relations. 

Israel has had an embassy in Baku since the early 1990s and has been a significant military backer of Azerbaijan in recent years, including diplomatic support for Baku in its standoff with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. 

Azerbaijan also supplies around 40% of Israel's oil imports and both Aliyev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have hailed strong relations between their countries. 

Amid escalating tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran over Baku's close relations with Israel, the Azeri parliament last November passed a law paving the way for the country to open its first embassy in Israel. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian last year accused Israel of establishing a military presence and secret alliance with Azerbaijan. 

Baku rejected the claims, but Iran mounted large-scale military exercises along the border with Azerbaijan and Aliyev responded by posing for photographs with Israeli kamikaze drones, which are manufactured in Azerbaijan. 

Azerbaijan's embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, where the majority of foreign delegations are. 

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At Least 10 Dead, 32 Injured in a Hotel Fire at a Ski Resort in Northwestern Türkiye

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]
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At Least 10 Dead, 32 Injured in a Hotel Fire at a Ski Resort in Northwestern Türkiye

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at a ski resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, in northwest Türkiye, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (IHA via AP)[ASSOCIATED PRESS]

A fire at a hotel at a ski resort in northwestern Türkiye on Tuesday killed at least 10 people and hospitalized 32 others, officials said.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. in the restaurant of the 12-story Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, officials and reports said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Two of the victims died after jumping from the building in a panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency. Private NTV television said some people tried to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets, The Associated Press said.
There were 234 guests staying at the hotel, Aydin said.
Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.
He said the hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape.
“I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,” the ski instructor told the station.
Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.
The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the fire. NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.
The 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames, the station also reported.
Kartalkaya is a popular ski resort in the Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul. The fire occurred during the school semester break when hotels in the region are packed.
Aydin's office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.
Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.