Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Wikileaks: Azerbaijan `terrified' by potential Armenian attack

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Wikileaks: Azerbaijan `terrified' by potential Armenian attack

    Wikileaks: Azerbaijan `terrified' by potential Armenian attack
    by Emil Sanamyan

    http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2012-03-31-wikileaks-azerbaijan--terrified--by-potential-armenian-attack
    Published: Saturday March 31, 2012


    Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan talk at the winter resort
    in Sochi in 2011. Kremlin.ru

    Czech energy envoy Vaclav Bartuska (l.) and Stratfor's Reva Bhalla .
    RFERL and Coloradowheat.org

    Related Articles

    Medvedev: Georgia war "very serious lesson" for Azerbaijan, Armenia
    http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2011-08-05-medvedev-georgia-war--very-serious-lesson--for-azerbaijan-armenia


    Wikileaks: Armenians can't be defeated by Azerbaijan
    http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2011-02-22-wikileaks-armenians-can-t-be-defeated-by-azerbaijan

    Washington - Despite record growth in military spending and frequently
    heard threats by top officials to resume hostilities in Karabakh,
    Azerbaijani leadership is said to be "terrified" by a prospect of an
    Armenian military attack, a Stratfor memo made available via Wikileaks
    revealed.

    The memo was prepared by Reva Bhalla, Stratfor's director of analysis,
    following her August 2010 meeting with a source described as
    "Ambassador-at-large for energy security, Czech Republic." While the
    official is not named in the memo, Vaclav Bartuska has been the Czech
    envoy on energy security for the last several years.

    The Czech official reportedly told Bhalla that "It is remarkable to
    what degree Azerbaijan is under Russian influence. THey are thinking
    about their survival. The Azerbaijanis cannot agree to a final deal on
    Shah Deniz II" natural gas field being developed in the Caspian by BP
    and whose output is sought by Russia and Western energy consumers.

    "When I was in Baku recently, they showed me a 3-D topographic map of
    Armenia, AZ [Azerbaijan], Nagorno [Karabakh]," the Czech related. "You
    can see very clearly that once (and if) the Armenians cross over with
    Russian backing, it is a flat path to Baku. The Russians told them
    during the Georgia war that Georgia could just be the first stop...
    pretty direct threat. The Azerbaijanis are terrified of this."

    According to press reports, in June 2010 Bartuska participated in the
    Baku oil and gas conference annually organized by the Azerbaijani
    government.

    Bhalla's memo was part of the Stratfor e-mail cache obtained last
    December by internet hacking group known as the Anonymous.

    Last year, speaking on the third anniversary of the Georgia war,
    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev argued that the 2008 war taught
    parties to the Karabakh conflict "a very serious lesson" that it was
    "better to conduct endless talks" than fight even a few days of war.

    And State Department cables also released by Wikileaks made clear that
    in U.S. assessment, despite the military build-up and threatening
    rhetoric, Azerbaijan remains incapable of launching a successful
    military campaign against Armenia.

Working...
X