Photo By Staff Sgt. Reece Heck | Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Azeri ambassador to the United States, speaks during a...... read more read more
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Leaders with the Oklahoma National Guard, alongside the Governor and First Lady of Oklahoma and an Azerbaijan delegation, gathered at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art to celebrate the 20th anniversary of state partnership between Oklahoma and Azerbaijan.
“Over the last 20 years, Oklahoma has been proud and remains proud to serve next to you and work with you (Azerbaijan),” said Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, adjutant general for Oklahoma, during the celebration dinner.
Gov. Kevin Stitt also attended the celebration, citing his family’s visit to Azerbaijan more than a year ago.
“One thing that I really appreciated about the Azerbaijani people is their values,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt, governor of Oklahoma. “It was all about family; it was all about taking care of our kids and giving better opportunities for them. The liberty and the freedoms that we talked about are really what we talk about here in the United States.”
The three-day visit included a tour of The Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University, where the delegation learned how Oklahoma develops future energy leaders through practical, global and science-based solutions through collaboration, research and development.
The delegation also learned about Western history, art and culture during a tour of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Before departing the state, the delegation toured the 137th Special Operations Wing in Oklahoma City, where they met with senior leadership and discussed unit capabilities, toured the civil engineer facilities, fire department, aeromedical unit and received and overview of the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission set.
Administered by the National Guard Bureau in 1991 and guided by State Department foreign policy goals, the State Partnership Program has since evolved where it now maintains more than 87 partnerships with 95 nations across the world.
For Oklahoma, the partnership with Azerbaijan began in 2002 and was matched due to economic similarities in four areas: energy, agriculture, aviation and medical care and public health.
“Almost exactly 20 years ago, I came to the state of Oklahoma as a junior diplomat when this state partnership program started,” said Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Azeri ambassador to the United States. “I would never have imagined that we would expand this cooperation to economy, energy, culture, and more importantly, people to people.”
In the past two decades, there have been multiple training events between the Oklahoma National Guard and Azerbaijan held in both partner’s countries. According to Lt. Col. Tonia Toben, incoming state partnership program manager, within the past five months alone, there have been four major engagements between the two, including medical care, staff training, cyber defense training and more.
“Of course, those are a few very brief examples of two decades of multiple training and diplomatic events,” Toben said. “It is also notable that Oklahoma and Azerbaijan share a commitment to peace, prosperity, security and stability. Azerbaijan's leadership within the region on energy diversification, agricultural investment and development opportunities, make them a great friend and partner to Oklahoma and the United States of America.”
Overall, the partnership between Oklahoma and Azerbaijan continues to strengthen through strong relationships with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, U.S. Embassy, United States European Command, and other civilian agencies.
| Date Taken: | 12.02.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.02.2022 12:59 |
| Story ID: | 434378 |
| Location: | OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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