AZERBAIJAN’S APPROACH TOWARD ISRAEL
Since the SOVIET UNION’S disintegration, AZERBAIJAN has been under direct pressure from RUSSIA and IRAN. RUSSIA supports ARMENIA politically, militarily, and economically, which helps ARMENIA to occupy Nagorno-Karabakh–which is internationally recognized as AZERBAIJANI land.[17] IRAN has also provided support to ARMENIA and blames AZERBAIJAN for its close links with the UNITED STATES and ISRAEL.
By Mahir Khalifa - Zadeh
Since the time of its restored national independence in 1991, AZERBAIJAN has strived to become an important regional player and to retake lands occupied by ARMENIA. In line with these goals and as a result of RUSSIAN and IRANIAN pressure, the late AZERBAIJANI President Heydar Aliyev oriented the country’s strategic foreign policy toward the WEST and ISRAEL. In 1997, he met with ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made a brief stop in Baku. The two discussed the IRANIAN threat as well as ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI intelligence cooperation. The meeting was considered by some to be the starting point for the alliance between the two countries.[18]
IRAN STRONGLY OPPOSES AZERBAIJAN’S TIES WITH ISRAEL
As a continuation of Heydar Aliyev’s strategy, AZERBAIJANI President Ilham Aliyev welcomed ISRAELI President Shimon Peres in Baku on in June 2009. President Ilham Aliyev said, “I am happy to host you in my country. This is a most important visit for AZERBAIJAN and we are interested in expanding and strengthening the cooperation between AZERBAIJAN and ISRAEL in the areas of security, diplomacy and the economy.”[19]
Peres’s visit took place despite strong opposition from IRAN.[20] President Aliyev’s decision earned him great respect in ISRAEL. “The clear position of AZERBAIJANI President Ilham Aliyev on relations with ISRAEL, in particular his refusal to submit to the demands of IRAN to cancel the visit of ISRAELI President Shimon Peres to Baku and his refusal to join any anti-ISRAEL campaigns” have garnered “sincere respect in ISRAEL.”[21]
COOPERATION WITH ISRAEL IS VITAL FOR AZERBAIJAN FOR SEVERAL STRATEGIC REASONS.
First, both AZERBAIJAN and ISRAEL face regional security threats.[22] Despite official slogans of friendship and brotherhood between two nations,[23] AZERBAIJAN very much fears IRANIAN threatens to use force and expand its intelligence network in Baku and in other parts of the country.[24]
Moreover, IRAN provides large-scale support to ARMENIA, which seriously damages AZERBAIJANI-IRANIAN relations and creates serious mistrust between the two countries.[25]
THE ARMENIAN EQUATION
AZERBAIJANI political elites consider ISRAELI or Jewish support a key element in countering the ARMENIAN diaspora, particularly in the UNITED STATES and EUROPE. In 1997, during an official visit to the UNITED STATES, President Heydar Aliyev met with representatives of AMERICAN Jewish organizations in New York and openly asked them to help AZERBAIJAN.[26] AZERBAIJAN is grateful to ISRAEL for lending the pro-ISRAEL lobby’s weight in Washington to improve AZERI-AMERICAN relations.[27]
Another strategic factor was the successful experience of the TURKISH-ISRAELI partnership for over a decade, which inspired AZERBAIJANI decision makers to form strategic ties with ISRAEL. Despite current problems in the TURKISH-ISRAELI relationship, Ankara “understands that its regional aspirations require correct relations with [the] Jewish state.”[28] Former ISRAELI Ambassador to TURKEY Zvi Elpeleg also noted, “I do not think that relations will deteriorate because there are fundamental reasons why TURKEY and ISRAEL have the same interests.”[29] AZERBAIJAN has attempted to play the mediator between the two countries following tensions and disagreements that emerged as a result of the Mavi Marmara incident. Undoubtedly, this type of mediation can expand Baku’s role in MIDDLE EASTERN affairs and strengthen AZERBAIJAN’S international standing.
Background Information:
THE TRUE REASON BEHIND TURKEYS WARMONGERING AGAINST ISRAEL
ISRAELI EXPORTS TO TURKEY RISE 42% TO EQUAL EXPORTS TO GERMANY
TRIANGULAR SECURITY AND DEFENSE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN TURKEY, ISRAEL, AND AZERBAIJAN
Baku welcomes the triangular security and defense partnership between TURKEY, ISRAEL, and AZERBAIJAN. This model of cooperation has been successful concerning energy affairs.[30] The strategic triangular partnership could be an effective tool in strengthening and supporting U.S. diplomacy, as well as counterbalancing the IRAN-RUSSIA axis in the SOUTH CAUCASUS and CENTRAL ASIA.
Modernizing the AZERBAIJANI Army as part of this defense cooperation is clearly the next and most important strategic dimension for Baku in its relations with Jerusalem. From 1992 to 1994, ISRAEL supported AZERBAIJAN in a war with ARMENIA, supplying Stinger missiles and other weapons to AZERBAIJANI troops.[31] Moreover, the Jews of AZERBAIJAN fought together with AZERIS against the ARMENIANS during this war. Albert Agarunov, an AZERBAIJANI Army officer and a Mountain Jew, became a national hero in AZERBAIJAN following the war.[32] More recently, in February 2012, as part of this bilateral defense cooperation, AZERBAIJAN signed a deal to purchase $1.6 billion worth of arms from ISRAEL.[33]
LOW PROFILE RELATIONSHIP
Last, AZERBAIJAN views its relations with ISRAEL as part of a long-term strategy to develop close ties with the UNITED STATES, in order to contain IRANIAN and RUSSIAN threats. Though ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI cooperation has expanded to include foreign policy, the military, economy, and intelligence, AZERBAIJAN does not have a diplomatic mission in ISRAEL for fear of jeopardizing its relations with Muslim countries. Moreover, both sides do not want to publicize their relations. AZERBAIJANI President Ilham Aliyev described his country’s relationship with the Jewish state as being like an iceberg: “nine-tenths of it is below the surface.”[34]
ISRAEL’S PRIORITIES VIS-À-VIS AZERBAIJAN
According to Dr. Ariel Cohen of the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, “ISRAEL’S strategic priorities include developing good diplomatic and economic relations with CAUCASUS and CENTRAL ASIA countries, preventing IRAN from increasing its influence in the region, and participating in energy projects, including oil and gas imports to ISRAEL.”[35] In April 2012, ISRAELI Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman paid an official visit to Baku. He met with President Ilham Aliyev, with whom he discussed bilateral relations and IRAN. According to ISRAELI analysts, “Lieberman’s visit comes one month after the AMERICAN magazine Foreign Policy reported that AZERBAIJAN has given Israel access to AZERBAIJANI airbases, which is considered an important step towards a possible attack on IRAN.”[36]
Background Information:
AZERBAIJAN'S ISRAEL DIPLOMACY TESTS IRAN http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/israel-azerbaijan-and-iran.htmland
ISRAEL’S IRAN “WARMONGERING RHETORIC’S” ARE DECEIVING TACTICS FOR A GREATER CAUSE http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/israel-azerbaijan-and-kazakhstan_6.html
Comment by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring: As mentioned numerous times on this blog, mainstream media and to some extend even alternative media report that IRAN presents the most serious threat to ISRAEL, and that IRAN’S nuclear threat should be a concern for the entire world is mainly a convenient bargaining tool for both, ISRAEL and IRAN. In most likelihood the behind the scene scenario looks rather different. Like with AZERBAIJAN, ISRAEL may conduct secrete wheeling and dealings with the PERSIAN state, a scenario not at all impossible, since ISRAEL’S new political doctrine fosters geopolitical as well as economic alliances with non Arab Muslim stated. After all the two countries, in the not too distant past, had not always been arch enemies.
See:
ARE IRAN AND ISRAEL REALLY ARCHENEMIES, OR IS IT JUST A FACADE? http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/iran-and-israel-real-archenemies.htmland
IRAN SOFTENS TUNE ON ISRAELhttp://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/iran-and-israel-improvement-in.html
ISRAEL CONSIDERS AZERBAIJAN AND THE CASPIAN LITTORAL AS PART OF THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST
Both AZERBAIJAN and ISRAEL rejected the allegations. In Baku, Lieberman commented, “Such reports are from the sphere of science fiction and do not correspond with the truth.”[37] Undoubtedly, Lieberman’s visit once again confirmed the strategic character of the ISRAELI-AZERBAIJANI relationship. According to ISRAELI news media, “The foreign minister acknowledged that ISRAEL and AZERBAIJAN–which is strategically located on IRAN’S northern border–have good, stable relations, and he described it as an ‘important country which is now a member of the UN Security Council.’”[38]
ISRAELI policymakers consider AZERBAIJAN and the CASPIAN littoral as part of the GREATER MIDDLE EAST.[39] ISRAEL, which for decades has had to deal with hostile neighboring ARAB states, has attempted to improve its security as well as its foreign image and international relations. As part of this strategy, ISRAEL has tried to develop relations with non-ARAB Muslim states. “Expanding its influence into an area of the world heavily Muslim but not ARAB has long been a strategic ISRAELI objective.”[40]
ISRAEL SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHED DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH NINE NON-ARAB MUSLIM STATES
This strategy is designed not only to improve relations with the Islamic world, but also to demonstrate that ISRAEL can have peaceful relations with Muslim states. ISRAEL has attempted to prove that there is no ISRAEL-Muslim or Jewish-Muslim confrontation. The collapse of the USSR provided a brilliant opportunity for ISRAEL to develop relations with the newly independent former SOVIET Muslim republics. As of this writing, ISRAEL has successfully established diplomatic relations with nine non-Arab Muslim states.[41]
In this light, AZERBAIJAN’S experience of the peaceful cohabitation of AZERIS and JEWS was attractive for the ISRAELI political elite. This model serves as a foundation upon which to develop a long-term partnership. ISRAELI policymakers enthusiastically responded to AZERBAIJANI attempts to establish close bilateral ties.
Notes:
[17] “Russia Extends Lease on Military Base in Armenia Through 2044,” RIA Novosti, August 20, 2010, http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100820/160276128.html.
[18] David Lev, “Iran Warns Azerbaijan: Keep Mossad Out,” Arutz Sheva, February 12, 2012, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152671.
[19] Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “President Shimon Peres in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan for Historic First Visit, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, June 28, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2009/President_Peres_visits_Azerbaijan_and_Kazakhstan_28_Jun_2009.htm.
[20] “Iran Recalls Azerbaijan Envoy Following Peres Visit,” JTA, June 29, 2009, http://www.jta.org/news/article/2009/06/29/1006211/iran-recalls-azerbaijan-envoy-following-peres-visit.
[21] Ilya Bourtman, “Israel and Azerbaijan’s Furtive Embrace,” Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Summer 2006), pp. 47-57, http://www.meforum.org/987/israel-and-azerbaijans-furtive-embrace.
[22] Arye Gut, “Azerbaijan, Israel Have Become ‘Strategic Allies’,” News.Az, June 28, 2011, http://news.az/articles/politics/39340.
[23] “Ilham Aliyev and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad Held an Expanded Meeting,” President of Azerbaijan website, News, November 17, 2010, http://en.president.az/articles/1103.
[24] “Iran Threatens Pre-emptive Action amid Nuclear Tensions,” NBC News, February 21, 2012, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46461790/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/iran-threatens-pre-emptive-action-amid-nuclear-tensions/.
[25] “Iran Provides Every Support to Armenia, Azerbaijani MP,” News.Az, February 14, 2012, http://www.news.az/articles/politics/54665.
[26] Speech of Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev on the official reception in honor of President Heydar Aliyev on behalf of the conference of presidents of major Jewish organizations–July 28, 1997,” Heydar Aliyev Heritage International Online Library, http://library.aliyev-heritage.org/en/7423863.html.
[27] Bourtman, “Israel and Azerbaijan’s Furtive Embrace.”
[28] Efraim Inbar, “Israeli-Turkish Tensions and Beyond,”Hurriyet Daily News, March 12, 2010, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=israeli-turkish-tensions-and-beyond-2010-03-12.
[29] Serkan Demirtaş, “Amid Sound and Fury, Turkey-Israel Alliance Endures,” Hurriyet Daily News, April 13, 2012, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10705597.asp.
[30] Alexander Murinson, “Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel Relations: The Energy Factor,” Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA), Vol. 12, No. 3 (September 2008), http://www.gloria-center.org/2008/09/murinson-2008-09-04/.
[31] Soner Cagaptay and Alexander Murinson, “Good Relations Between Azerbaijan and Israel: A Model for Other Muslim States in Eurasia?” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, March 30, 2005, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/good-relations-between-azerbaijan-and-israel-a-model-for-other-muslim-state.
[32] Address of Jewish Diaspora of Azerbaijan, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), June 19, 2003, http://www.osce.org/secretariat/42078.
[33] “Azerbaijan Rejects Iran Fears over Israel ‘Arms Buy’,” Defense News, February, 29, 2012, http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120229/DEFREG04/302290002/Azerbaijan-Rejects-Iran-Fears-Over-Israel-8216-Arms-Buy-8217.
[34] Patrick Brennan, “Israeli-Azerbaijan Deal Leaked, Bolton Blames Obama,” National Review, March 29, 2012, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/294856/bolton-blames-obama-leaking-israeli-azerbaijan-relationship-patrick-brennan.
[35] Ariel Cohen and Kevin DeCorla-Souza, “Eurasian Energy and Israel’s Choices,” Mideast Security and Policy Studies, No. 88 (February 2011), http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/MSPS88.pdf.
[36] Lieberman Denies Israel Has Access to Azerbaijan Air Bases,” JewishJournal.com, April 23, 2012, http://www.jewishjournal.com/israel/article/lieberman_denies_israel_has_access_to_azerbaijan_air_bases_20120423/.
[37] “Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Visits North Azerbaijan on 20th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations,” BayBak Azerbaijan, April 24, 2012, http://en.baybak.com/israeli-foreign-minister-avigdor-lieberman-visits-north-azerbaijan-on-20th-anniversary-of-diplomatic-relations.azr.
[38] Herb Keinon, “Reports Baku Gave Israel Airfields Are Fiction,” The Jerusalem Post, April 4, 2012, http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=267268.
[39] Bulent Aras, “Post-Cold War Realities: Israel’s Strategy in Azerbaijan and Central Asia,” Middle East Policy, January 1, 1998, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20297513.html, p. 6869.
[40] Bourtman, “Israel and Azerbaijan’s Furtive Embrace.”
[41] U.S. Department of State, “Israel,” Background Notes, http://www.state.gov.
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