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IRAN AND AZERBAIJAN, ALREADY WARY NEIGHBORS, FIND EVEN LESS TO AGREE ON
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/world/iran-and-azerbaijan-already-wary-neighbors-find-even-less-to-agree-on-639166/
June 6 2012
PA
BILASUVAR, Azerbaijan -- The perennially tense relationship
between Azerbaijan and Iran, wary neighbors on the Caspian Sea,
has deteriorated in recent weeks amid deep unease in Tehran over
expanding military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel.
A vital border crossing here has been shut for days at a time,
stranding long lines of trucks. Not far away, Iranian warships maneuver
in the Caspian Sea. Last week, a senior aide to Iran's supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was refused entry at the airport in Baku,
the Azerbaijani capital. Ambassadors on each side have returned home.
And a public relations war is raging as officials trade nasty barbs
online and in the news media -- including an exchange in which the
two predominantly Muslim countries each accused the other of being
overly friendly to gay people.
In March, in perhaps the gravest sign of the strains, authorities in
Azerbaijan arrested 22 people they said were part of an Iranian-backed
plot to kill American and Israeli diplomats and attack other targets
in Baku, though the allegations are as yet unproved.
"Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have become very hot," said
Elhan Shahinoglu, the director of Atlas, a foreign policy research
organization in Baku.
Officially, Azerbaijan says it wants to remain neutral in the
confrontation over Iran's nuclear program. But the government of
President Ilham Aliyev has loudly defended its right to strengthen
military ties with Israel, signaled most recently by Azerbaijan's
purchase of $1.6 billion worth of Israeli-made weapons. However,
both countries have denied reports that Azerbaijan has given Israel
access to its military bases to keep watch over Iran.
The rising importance of Azerbaijan as a strategic ally of the West
will be on full display on Wednesday, when Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton lands in Baku on a diplomatic swing through the South
Caucasus. With overland supply routes closed in Pakistan, NATO is
relying heavily on airfields in Azerbaijan to move supplies to and
from Afghanistan.
Ties to the West, however, are only one factor in the tensions
with Iran. Azerbaijan has long chafed at Iran's support of Armenia,
Azerbaijan's western neighbor and sworn enemy, in the long-running
war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Even as the situation in and around Azerbaijan has grown increasingly
volatile, American officials have seemed largely distracted by the
civil war in Syria and by domestic politics.
State Department officials in Washington refused to respond to
questions about the friction between Azerbaijan and Iran, the United
States' relationship with Baku or the implications for American and
international security. "We're not prepared to comment," Robert B.
Hilton, a spokesman on European and Eurasian affairs, wrote in an
e-mail message.
The United States has not had an ambassador in Baku since the departure
in December of Matthew J. Bryza, a well-respected career diplomat
and expert on the region, whose nomination was derailed in Congress
because of opposition from Armenian-American interest groups.
President Obama had granted Mr. Bryza a temporary recess appointment
in 2010.
Late last month, Mr. Obama nominated Richard L. Morningstar, a former
ambassador to the European Union and currently the special envoy
for Eurasian energy issues, to be the next ambassador in Baku. He is
awaiting confirmation by the Senate.
Ali M. Hasanov, a senior political aide to President Aliyev, said
the lack of an ambassador was problematic. "We are missing the
consultations with the American ambassador," he said in an interview
at his office in Baku. "Americans cannot write off a country like
Azerbaijan. They cannot leave Azerbaijan on its own."
But American officials often see Azerbaijan as a no-win situation,
in which any sign of friendship will inevitably draw criticism from
Armenian-American groups or from local and international watchdog
groups, which have documented a number of cases of human rights abuses
by the Aliyev government.
In a sort of 21st-century echo of Great Game politics, the 19th-century
rivalry between Russia and Britain over Central Asia, Russia is also
wary of Azerbaijan's relationship with the West.
Moscow is now seeking to renegotiate a lease for a major radar
installation in Gabala, Azerbaijan, that is used to track missiles
across a huge portion of the globe. Baku demands $300 million for a
new five-year term, a jump from the current $7 million lease. Mr.
Hasanov said the increase was justified because of a sharp rise in
property values.
Russia has blamed the United States for pressing Azerbaijan to raise
the rent, and has recently threatened to abandon the radar station.
In interviews, government officials, diplomats, academic experts,
human rights advocates and citizens said the strained ties between
Azerbaijan and Iran also raised the prospect of unrest among the more
than 20 million ethnic Azerbaijanis who live in Iran, mostly along
its northern border.
Some members of Azerbaijan's Parliament have proposed renaming their
country North Azerbaijan to send the message that they view northern
Iran as occupied territory that should be called South Azerbaijan. The
proposal has not gained momentum, but Iran aggressively seeks to shape
public opinion in the border zone, and even broadcasts television
programs entirely in the Azerbaijani language.
It is in the border areas where the current tensions are felt most.
Every day in Bilasuvar, truckers line up to cross into Iran, many of
them heading to Nakhichevan, an exclave that is cut off from the rest
of Azerbaijan because of Armenia's control of Nagorno-Karabakh. By
land, it is accessible only through Iran.
Emiro Rovshan, a truck driver carrying a load of shoes, said that in
the past three or four months, border closings, apparently ordered by
Iran, had become more common, occasionally stranding drivers for days.
Still, Mr. Rovshan said, Azerbaijanis should not complain. "We are
dependent on Iran," he said. "The way we go to Nakhichevan is a
blessing, it is like a gift to us."
Leyla Yunus, the director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy,
an organization that monitors human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, said
that political repression by the Aliyev government was benefiting
Iran, and that the lack of economic opportunities, especially for
young people in rural areas, could push them to embrace the religious
fervor of Tehran's theocratic authorities.
"What are people watching in rural areas?" Ms. Yunus asked. "Iran TV."
Ms. Yunus said that the United States had muted its criticism of human
rights abuses to protect its larger interests in Azerbaijan. "From 2003
to today, we do not see strong criticism from Washington," she said.
For Israel, Azerbaijan has emerged as an extraordinary ally --
a friendly Muslim nation that is willing to cooperate on military
and strategic issues. And Israel, more than other countries, seems
to feel empathy for the tough neighborhood in which Azerbaijan finds
itself, bordered by a declared enemy and two other countries it cannot
fully trust.
>From Azerbaijan's view, Israel has been more understanding than
European countries that have criticized Baku about rights abuses but
that do not acknowledge the challenges on its borders or the difficulty
in building a secular culture in a predominantly Muslim country.
In a clear rebuke of Iran's theocracy, Baku has loudly emphasized
its desire for a secular society, evidenced by its role as host
of this year's Eurovision Song Competition. It was in response to
Eurovision, which draws many gay fans, that Iranian Web sites said
Baku was planning to hold a huge gay rights parade.
Mr. Hasanov, the presidential aide, said he believed that Azerbaijan
and Iran would ultimately work things out. "We will find a formula in
which the secular state will live in peace with the religious state,"
he said. "We are proud of the fact that we are Muslims, and we are
proud that we are a secular country."
From: Baghdasarian
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/world/iran-and-azerbaijan-already-wary-neighbors-find-even-less-to-agree-on-639166/
June 6 2012
PA
BILASUVAR, Azerbaijan -- The perennially tense relationship
between Azerbaijan and Iran, wary neighbors on the Caspian Sea,
has deteriorated in recent weeks amid deep unease in Tehran over
expanding military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel.
A vital border crossing here has been shut for days at a time,
stranding long lines of trucks. Not far away, Iranian warships maneuver
in the Caspian Sea. Last week, a senior aide to Iran's supreme leader,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was refused entry at the airport in Baku,
the Azerbaijani capital. Ambassadors on each side have returned home.
And a public relations war is raging as officials trade nasty barbs
online and in the news media -- including an exchange in which the
two predominantly Muslim countries each accused the other of being
overly friendly to gay people.
In March, in perhaps the gravest sign of the strains, authorities in
Azerbaijan arrested 22 people they said were part of an Iranian-backed
plot to kill American and Israeli diplomats and attack other targets
in Baku, though the allegations are as yet unproved.
"Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have become very hot," said
Elhan Shahinoglu, the director of Atlas, a foreign policy research
organization in Baku.
Officially, Azerbaijan says it wants to remain neutral in the
confrontation over Iran's nuclear program. But the government of
President Ilham Aliyev has loudly defended its right to strengthen
military ties with Israel, signaled most recently by Azerbaijan's
purchase of $1.6 billion worth of Israeli-made weapons. However,
both countries have denied reports that Azerbaijan has given Israel
access to its military bases to keep watch over Iran.
The rising importance of Azerbaijan as a strategic ally of the West
will be on full display on Wednesday, when Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton lands in Baku on a diplomatic swing through the South
Caucasus. With overland supply routes closed in Pakistan, NATO is
relying heavily on airfields in Azerbaijan to move supplies to and
from Afghanistan.
Ties to the West, however, are only one factor in the tensions
with Iran. Azerbaijan has long chafed at Iran's support of Armenia,
Azerbaijan's western neighbor and sworn enemy, in the long-running
war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Even as the situation in and around Azerbaijan has grown increasingly
volatile, American officials have seemed largely distracted by the
civil war in Syria and by domestic politics.
State Department officials in Washington refused to respond to
questions about the friction between Azerbaijan and Iran, the United
States' relationship with Baku or the implications for American and
international security. "We're not prepared to comment," Robert B.
Hilton, a spokesman on European and Eurasian affairs, wrote in an
e-mail message.
The United States has not had an ambassador in Baku since the departure
in December of Matthew J. Bryza, a well-respected career diplomat
and expert on the region, whose nomination was derailed in Congress
because of opposition from Armenian-American interest groups.
President Obama had granted Mr. Bryza a temporary recess appointment
in 2010.
Late last month, Mr. Obama nominated Richard L. Morningstar, a former
ambassador to the European Union and currently the special envoy
for Eurasian energy issues, to be the next ambassador in Baku. He is
awaiting confirmation by the Senate.
Ali M. Hasanov, a senior political aide to President Aliyev, said
the lack of an ambassador was problematic. "We are missing the
consultations with the American ambassador," he said in an interview
at his office in Baku. "Americans cannot write off a country like
Azerbaijan. They cannot leave Azerbaijan on its own."
But American officials often see Azerbaijan as a no-win situation,
in which any sign of friendship will inevitably draw criticism from
Armenian-American groups or from local and international watchdog
groups, which have documented a number of cases of human rights abuses
by the Aliyev government.
In a sort of 21st-century echo of Great Game politics, the 19th-century
rivalry between Russia and Britain over Central Asia, Russia is also
wary of Azerbaijan's relationship with the West.
Moscow is now seeking to renegotiate a lease for a major radar
installation in Gabala, Azerbaijan, that is used to track missiles
across a huge portion of the globe. Baku demands $300 million for a
new five-year term, a jump from the current $7 million lease. Mr.
Hasanov said the increase was justified because of a sharp rise in
property values.
Russia has blamed the United States for pressing Azerbaijan to raise
the rent, and has recently threatened to abandon the radar station.
In interviews, government officials, diplomats, academic experts,
human rights advocates and citizens said the strained ties between
Azerbaijan and Iran also raised the prospect of unrest among the more
than 20 million ethnic Azerbaijanis who live in Iran, mostly along
its northern border.
Some members of Azerbaijan's Parliament have proposed renaming their
country North Azerbaijan to send the message that they view northern
Iran as occupied territory that should be called South Azerbaijan. The
proposal has not gained momentum, but Iran aggressively seeks to shape
public opinion in the border zone, and even broadcasts television
programs entirely in the Azerbaijani language.
It is in the border areas where the current tensions are felt most.
Every day in Bilasuvar, truckers line up to cross into Iran, many of
them heading to Nakhichevan, an exclave that is cut off from the rest
of Azerbaijan because of Armenia's control of Nagorno-Karabakh. By
land, it is accessible only through Iran.
Emiro Rovshan, a truck driver carrying a load of shoes, said that in
the past three or four months, border closings, apparently ordered by
Iran, had become more common, occasionally stranding drivers for days.
Still, Mr. Rovshan said, Azerbaijanis should not complain. "We are
dependent on Iran," he said. "The way we go to Nakhichevan is a
blessing, it is like a gift to us."
Leyla Yunus, the director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy,
an organization that monitors human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, said
that political repression by the Aliyev government was benefiting
Iran, and that the lack of economic opportunities, especially for
young people in rural areas, could push them to embrace the religious
fervor of Tehran's theocratic authorities.
"What are people watching in rural areas?" Ms. Yunus asked. "Iran TV."
Ms. Yunus said that the United States had muted its criticism of human
rights abuses to protect its larger interests in Azerbaijan. "From 2003
to today, we do not see strong criticism from Washington," she said.
For Israel, Azerbaijan has emerged as an extraordinary ally --
a friendly Muslim nation that is willing to cooperate on military
and strategic issues. And Israel, more than other countries, seems
to feel empathy for the tough neighborhood in which Azerbaijan finds
itself, bordered by a declared enemy and two other countries it cannot
fully trust.
>From Azerbaijan's view, Israel has been more understanding than
European countries that have criticized Baku about rights abuses but
that do not acknowledge the challenges on its borders or the difficulty
in building a secular culture in a predominantly Muslim country.
In a clear rebuke of Iran's theocracy, Baku has loudly emphasized
its desire for a secular society, evidenced by its role as host
of this year's Eurovision Song Competition. It was in response to
Eurovision, which draws many gay fans, that Iranian Web sites said
Baku was planning to hold a huge gay rights parade.
Mr. Hasanov, the presidential aide, said he believed that Azerbaijan
and Iran would ultimately work things out. "We will find a formula in
which the secular state will live in peace with the religious state,"
he said. "We are proud of the fact that we are Muslims, and we are
proud that we are a secular country."
From: Baghdasarian