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'LIKE CASABLANCA IN WORLD WAR II': AS IRAN TENSIONS GROW, AZERBAIJAN BECOMES DEN OF SPIES
Http://Worldnews.Msnbc.Msn.Com/_news/2012/04/09/11036848-Like-Casablanca-In- World-War-Ii-As-Iran-Tensions-Grow-Azerbaijan-Becomes-Den-Of-Spies?Lite
Joern Haufe / dapd via AP, file
The $350 million Flame Towers are due to be official opened in the
center of Baku, Azerbaijan, later this spring. A secular dictatorship
with a long border with Iran, Azerbaijan is one of the few remaining
countries than can act as a reliable listening post for America and
Israel.
By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com
A Soviet-legacy oil nation is emerging as a hotbed of global
espionage as tension escalates between Israel and Iran.
Azerbaijan, which links Russia to the Middle East, has strategic
importance as a bridgehead for the West in its war of diplomacy with
Tehran.
A secular dictatorship with a long border with Iran, it is one of the
few remaining countries than can act as a reliable listening post for
America and Israel, turning its capital, Baku, into a hotbed of
intelligence activity.
"Like Casablanca in World War II, Baku is now also a center of
monitoring Iranian mischief," Ariel Cohen, senior research fellow at
the Washington-based Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for
International Studies, part of the Heritage Foundation, told
msnbc.com. "This is understandable taking into account visa-free
regime of travel between the two countries and aggressive Iranian
intelligence tactics."
NYT: US defines first move in new talks with Iran
Recent events have lifted the lid on some of the international
maneuvering in Baku. In March, Azeri security services arrested 22
people they say were trained by Iran to carry out terrorist attacks
against the US and Israeli embassies.
In January, two accused of plotting to kill teachers at a Jewish
school were also held.
'The Israelis are more subtle'
Most experts agree there are many Mossad agents in Azerbaijan working
for Israel.
"The Iranians act in the open, they want everyone to know that they
are here," Dr. Arastun Orujl, director of the east-West Research
Center in Baku told Britain's Times newspaper. "The Israelis are more
subtle, like the Americans. But in the end everyone knows they are
here, too."
Iran lawmaker: We can produce nuclear weapons
So why does Azerbaijan matter? Not only does its geography make it
an ideal place for the U.S. and its allies to face down Tehran, but
its political history entangles it in the current tensions with Israel.
Millions living in northern Iran are ethnic Azeris, theoretically
binding the two nations. But Azerbaijan has allied itself increasingly
with Israel and the West as it uses its oil wealth to leverage its
global standing.
"It was one of the first countries to back America after 9/11,"
Gerald Frost, director of the Paris-based Caspian Information Centre
told msnbc.com. "It is as politically helpful to the West as its
position close to the Middle East will allow. America needs to pay
it close attention."
While the country has made concessions to the West, it remains a
dynastic dictatorship under the rule of Ilham Aliyev, who inherited
power from father Heydar Aliyev, a former Soviet leader who reinvented
himself as a nationalist during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ilham
took over in a 2003 election described by Human Rights Watch as
"fraudulent" and which it said was "followed by protests that turned
violent, plunging Azerbaijan into a human rights crisis from which
it has not recovered".
David W Cerny / Reuters
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev answers questions during a news
conference in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 5.
Israel last year established a factory in Azerbaijan making parts for
its military drones, and has supplied the countrywith $1.6 billion
worth of military equipment.
The BBC reported Russia President Vladimir Putin "surprised Western
leaders" in 2007 by offering to let America use its radar base in
Azerbaijan to defend Europe against any missile attack from Iran.
Cohen says Iran has been trying undermine Azerbaijan's secular position
in the hopes of turning it from a dictatorship into a theocracy,
echoing the transition of countries such as Libya and Egypt that now
appear destined to be ruled by conservative Islamists.
Mark Perry, in a Foreign Policy article titled "Israel's Secret
Staging Ground", claimed Obama administration officials now believe
that the security cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel is actually
"heightening the risks of an Israeli strike on Iran".
Azerbaijan has denied it would allow the U.S. or Israel to launch
airstrikes, although Frost noted that it could provide associated
support since it already allows the U.S. military into its airspace
to reach Afghanistan and to evacuate injured troops.
While ties with Israel deepen, the future relationship with the United
States is less clear because Washington does not currently have
an ambassador in Baku. The last holder of the post, Matthew Bryza,
left last year after his appointment was not confirmed by Congress, a
decision Frost believes is likely to have been influenced by America's
powerful Armenian lobby.
Cultural boom Meanwhile, its strategic importance is being echoed
in a cultural boom. Baku is enjoying a Dubai-style explosion of
luxury hotels and designer fashion stores. "It is all very glitzy,
very much reflecting the way Azeris want to be seen as an establish
European-style country rather than a backwater," said Ben Illis,
co-author of a new Time Out guide to Baku, which is due to be published
next month.
It has launched a major tourism advertising campaign, and its
ambitious bid to host the 2020 Olympic games found its way onto the
IOC shortlist.
This spring is expected to see the unveiling of the $350 million Flame
Towers - three glass-sided skyscrapers up to 620ft in height inspired
by the country's ancient association with fire. Human Rights Watch
says "thousands of residents" have been forcibly evicted to make way
for some of these projects.
However, billing itself as tourism destination may be a challenge for
a country that still has a very poor human rights record and still
is often confused with Kazakhstan, home of comic creation Borat.
An unlikely litmus test of its political ambitions will come next month
when it hosts the Eurovision Song Contest, a live music competition
beamed across Europe that is a byword for kitsch (it was once won by
a transexual representing Israel). Baku's bitter enemy, neighboring
Armenia, pulled out of the contest in disgust when an Azeri duo won
last year.
David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters, file
Eurovision Song Contest 2011 winners Eldar Gasimov (2nd left) and Nigar
Jamal (2nd right), who are known as Ell-Nikki, are greeted by fans
in Baku. Their victory means Baku will host this year's competition.
"This will perhaps be a good indication of how far the regime is
prepared to go to further its relationship with the west," said James
Nixey, of British think tank Chatham House.
Http://Worldnews.Msnbc.Msn.Com/_news/2012/04/09/11036848-Like-Casablanca-In- World-War-Ii-As-Iran-Tensions-Grow-Azerbaijan-Becomes-Den-Of-Spies?Lite
Joern Haufe / dapd via AP, file
The $350 million Flame Towers are due to be official opened in the
center of Baku, Azerbaijan, later this spring. A secular dictatorship
with a long border with Iran, Azerbaijan is one of the few remaining
countries than can act as a reliable listening post for America and
Israel.
By Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com
A Soviet-legacy oil nation is emerging as a hotbed of global
espionage as tension escalates between Israel and Iran.
Azerbaijan, which links Russia to the Middle East, has strategic
importance as a bridgehead for the West in its war of diplomacy with
Tehran.
A secular dictatorship with a long border with Iran, it is one of the
few remaining countries than can act as a reliable listening post for
America and Israel, turning its capital, Baku, into a hotbed of
intelligence activity.
"Like Casablanca in World War II, Baku is now also a center of
monitoring Iranian mischief," Ariel Cohen, senior research fellow at
the Washington-based Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for
International Studies, part of the Heritage Foundation, told
msnbc.com. "This is understandable taking into account visa-free
regime of travel between the two countries and aggressive Iranian
intelligence tactics."
NYT: US defines first move in new talks with Iran
Recent events have lifted the lid on some of the international
maneuvering in Baku. In March, Azeri security services arrested 22
people they say were trained by Iran to carry out terrorist attacks
against the US and Israeli embassies.
In January, two accused of plotting to kill teachers at a Jewish
school were also held.
'The Israelis are more subtle'
Most experts agree there are many Mossad agents in Azerbaijan working
for Israel.
"The Iranians act in the open, they want everyone to know that they
are here," Dr. Arastun Orujl, director of the east-West Research
Center in Baku told Britain's Times newspaper. "The Israelis are more
subtle, like the Americans. But in the end everyone knows they are
here, too."
Iran lawmaker: We can produce nuclear weapons
So why does Azerbaijan matter? Not only does its geography make it
an ideal place for the U.S. and its allies to face down Tehran, but
its political history entangles it in the current tensions with Israel.
Millions living in northern Iran are ethnic Azeris, theoretically
binding the two nations. But Azerbaijan has allied itself increasingly
with Israel and the West as it uses its oil wealth to leverage its
global standing.
"It was one of the first countries to back America after 9/11,"
Gerald Frost, director of the Paris-based Caspian Information Centre
told msnbc.com. "It is as politically helpful to the West as its
position close to the Middle East will allow. America needs to pay
it close attention."
While the country has made concessions to the West, it remains a
dynastic dictatorship under the rule of Ilham Aliyev, who inherited
power from father Heydar Aliyev, a former Soviet leader who reinvented
himself as a nationalist during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ilham
took over in a 2003 election described by Human Rights Watch as
"fraudulent" and which it said was "followed by protests that turned
violent, plunging Azerbaijan into a human rights crisis from which
it has not recovered".
David W Cerny / Reuters
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev answers questions during a news
conference in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 5.
Israel last year established a factory in Azerbaijan making parts for
its military drones, and has supplied the countrywith $1.6 billion
worth of military equipment.
The BBC reported Russia President Vladimir Putin "surprised Western
leaders" in 2007 by offering to let America use its radar base in
Azerbaijan to defend Europe against any missile attack from Iran.
Cohen says Iran has been trying undermine Azerbaijan's secular position
in the hopes of turning it from a dictatorship into a theocracy,
echoing the transition of countries such as Libya and Egypt that now
appear destined to be ruled by conservative Islamists.
Mark Perry, in a Foreign Policy article titled "Israel's Secret
Staging Ground", claimed Obama administration officials now believe
that the security cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel is actually
"heightening the risks of an Israeli strike on Iran".
Azerbaijan has denied it would allow the U.S. or Israel to launch
airstrikes, although Frost noted that it could provide associated
support since it already allows the U.S. military into its airspace
to reach Afghanistan and to evacuate injured troops.
While ties with Israel deepen, the future relationship with the United
States is less clear because Washington does not currently have
an ambassador in Baku. The last holder of the post, Matthew Bryza,
left last year after his appointment was not confirmed by Congress, a
decision Frost believes is likely to have been influenced by America's
powerful Armenian lobby.
Cultural boom Meanwhile, its strategic importance is being echoed
in a cultural boom. Baku is enjoying a Dubai-style explosion of
luxury hotels and designer fashion stores. "It is all very glitzy,
very much reflecting the way Azeris want to be seen as an establish
European-style country rather than a backwater," said Ben Illis,
co-author of a new Time Out guide to Baku, which is due to be published
next month.
It has launched a major tourism advertising campaign, and its
ambitious bid to host the 2020 Olympic games found its way onto the
IOC shortlist.
This spring is expected to see the unveiling of the $350 million Flame
Towers - three glass-sided skyscrapers up to 620ft in height inspired
by the country's ancient association with fire. Human Rights Watch
says "thousands of residents" have been forcibly evicted to make way
for some of these projects.
However, billing itself as tourism destination may be a challenge for
a country that still has a very poor human rights record and still
is often confused with Kazakhstan, home of comic creation Borat.
An unlikely litmus test of its political ambitions will come next month
when it hosts the Eurovision Song Contest, a live music competition
beamed across Europe that is a byword for kitsch (it was once won by
a transexual representing Israel). Baku's bitter enemy, neighboring
Armenia, pulled out of the contest in disgust when an Azeri duo won
last year.
David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters, file
Eurovision Song Contest 2011 winners Eldar Gasimov (2nd left) and Nigar
Jamal (2nd right), who are known as Ell-Nikki, are greeted by fans
in Baku. Their victory means Baku will host this year's competition.
"This will perhaps be a good indication of how far the regime is
prepared to go to further its relationship with the west," said James
Nixey, of British think tank Chatham House.