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Baku's Non-Public Policy
Igor Muradyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/politics27819.html
Published: 19:12:30 - 23/10/2012
In the modern world everything is possible to do if there is money.
The government of Azerbaijan is more than sure that this is so. Having
paid and overpaid for so many things, Azerbaijan is unable to assess
the results and understand what should be viewed as a result.
The Azerbaijani foreign policy and propaganda is highly expensive, and
a lot of people work on their interests. From time to time Baku is
involved in scandals `for what are we paying money?' However, the
spending engine has been operated, and it is impossible to stop it,
especially that a huge part of this money remains in the pockets of
the hierarchy of the functionaries.
In this stage the Azerbaijani foreign policy and propaganda failed
though the Budapest operation was performed well and something similar
will reoccur from time to time. Azerbaijan is having a tough time
because the Azerbaijanis are still perceived as `people in cap with an
ambiguous gait'. Nevertheless, Baku does not know what initiatives to
come up with in the next stage and will still have to rely on money.
A big concern occurred due to the problem of South Dagestan which is
located within Azerbaijan's administrative borders. The Russians have
set to review their stance and policy on the problem of Lezgi, Avar
and other peoples of Dagestan who are hostages in their native land.
It became known in the past few months that over 150 agents of
Azerbaijan allegedly working for it for 15 years were under the full
control of the Russian counterintelligence, and the money which
Azerbaijan spend for their sustenance partly appeared in the cashbox
of local bids of the Russian special service.
6-7 years ago Azerbaijan allocated about 15 million dollars to support
social activists of Dagestan in the territory of Dagestan. Now the
Azerbaijanis spend about 8-10 million dollars to support its `agents'
in Dagestan. It is hard to guess how much money is spent on Dagestan
but Baku is ready to continue the practice of bribes, liaising with a
wide circle of Russian politicians, experts and the mass media.
The Lezgi and Avar activists have information and evidence on ethnic
cleansing plans in South Dagestan. However, these activists still rely
on Russia and are afraid of making this information known to public,
sharing it with the Russians only. In addition, it is not ruled out
that this information is relayed to the Azerbaijanis via some Russian
politicians and experts.
It is clear that the Lezgi and Avar activists have encountered
difficulties relating to insufficient social and political potential,
as well as the negative experience with Moscow and Makhachkala. Now
the situation has changed considerably but problems remain.
The Russian counterintelligence has done a good job for the
liquidation of its network of agents which Azerbaijan created in
Dagestan for many years. It became known through a leakage or a
spontaneous flow of information in Moscow political circles. This is a
very important circumstance because people living in extreme poverty
prefer to cooperate with anyone for the sake of a small award. In
addition, the Azerbaijanis used representatives of one ethnicity for
their intelligence against the interests of another ethnicity.
It should be noted that a well-known Turkish special service is also
working in Dagestan, including South Dagestan. Sometimes this leads to
a misunderstanding between Turks and Azeris since the interests of
Turks and Azeris have considerable differences, including on the North
Caucasian direction. The Turks have always aspired to and are now
playing an important part in exaggerating the Islamic movement of
Dagestan though now they will occupy an important position in this
field. Azerbaijan would prefer instability in Dagestan but unlike
Turks it would not like a transformation of this instability in this
territory. However, there is no doubt that Turkey and Azerbaijan
coordinate efforts and cooperate in this direction.
The Russian political circles have three opinions regarding the
problem of South Dagestan. However, this issue is alien to
politicians, they think there is no hope for a turn in this issue that
would be in Russia's interest. Another group of politicians thinks
there is no need to enlarge this discussion and make it public, and it
must remain a special project. Finally, other adventurer politicians
who understand the perspectives of the South and North Caucasus think
that Azerbaijan was comfortable for a long time thanks to Russia and
it is time to launch the fragmentation of this state which almost begs
to be divided.
One way or another, Azerbaijan is made to leave the shell of its
non-public policy and react to different serious and new challenges.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Igor Muradyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/politics27819.html
Published: 19:12:30 - 23/10/2012
In the modern world everything is possible to do if there is money.
The government of Azerbaijan is more than sure that this is so. Having
paid and overpaid for so many things, Azerbaijan is unable to assess
the results and understand what should be viewed as a result.
The Azerbaijani foreign policy and propaganda is highly expensive, and
a lot of people work on their interests. From time to time Baku is
involved in scandals `for what are we paying money?' However, the
spending engine has been operated, and it is impossible to stop it,
especially that a huge part of this money remains in the pockets of
the hierarchy of the functionaries.
In this stage the Azerbaijani foreign policy and propaganda failed
though the Budapest operation was performed well and something similar
will reoccur from time to time. Azerbaijan is having a tough time
because the Azerbaijanis are still perceived as `people in cap with an
ambiguous gait'. Nevertheless, Baku does not know what initiatives to
come up with in the next stage and will still have to rely on money.
A big concern occurred due to the problem of South Dagestan which is
located within Azerbaijan's administrative borders. The Russians have
set to review their stance and policy on the problem of Lezgi, Avar
and other peoples of Dagestan who are hostages in their native land.
It became known in the past few months that over 150 agents of
Azerbaijan allegedly working for it for 15 years were under the full
control of the Russian counterintelligence, and the money which
Azerbaijan spend for their sustenance partly appeared in the cashbox
of local bids of the Russian special service.
6-7 years ago Azerbaijan allocated about 15 million dollars to support
social activists of Dagestan in the territory of Dagestan. Now the
Azerbaijanis spend about 8-10 million dollars to support its `agents'
in Dagestan. It is hard to guess how much money is spent on Dagestan
but Baku is ready to continue the practice of bribes, liaising with a
wide circle of Russian politicians, experts and the mass media.
The Lezgi and Avar activists have information and evidence on ethnic
cleansing plans in South Dagestan. However, these activists still rely
on Russia and are afraid of making this information known to public,
sharing it with the Russians only. In addition, it is not ruled out
that this information is relayed to the Azerbaijanis via some Russian
politicians and experts.
It is clear that the Lezgi and Avar activists have encountered
difficulties relating to insufficient social and political potential,
as well as the negative experience with Moscow and Makhachkala. Now
the situation has changed considerably but problems remain.
The Russian counterintelligence has done a good job for the
liquidation of its network of agents which Azerbaijan created in
Dagestan for many years. It became known through a leakage or a
spontaneous flow of information in Moscow political circles. This is a
very important circumstance because people living in extreme poverty
prefer to cooperate with anyone for the sake of a small award. In
addition, the Azerbaijanis used representatives of one ethnicity for
their intelligence against the interests of another ethnicity.
It should be noted that a well-known Turkish special service is also
working in Dagestan, including South Dagestan. Sometimes this leads to
a misunderstanding between Turks and Azeris since the interests of
Turks and Azeris have considerable differences, including on the North
Caucasian direction. The Turks have always aspired to and are now
playing an important part in exaggerating the Islamic movement of
Dagestan though now they will occupy an important position in this
field. Azerbaijan would prefer instability in Dagestan but unlike
Turks it would not like a transformation of this instability in this
territory. However, there is no doubt that Turkey and Azerbaijan
coordinate efforts and cooperate in this direction.
The Russian political circles have three opinions regarding the
problem of South Dagestan. However, this issue is alien to
politicians, they think there is no hope for a turn in this issue that
would be in Russia's interest. Another group of politicians thinks
there is no need to enlarge this discussion and make it public, and it
must remain a special project. Finally, other adventurer politicians
who understand the perspectives of the South and North Caucasus think
that Azerbaijan was comfortable for a long time thanks to Russia and
it is time to launch the fragmentation of this state which almost begs
to be divided.
One way or another, Azerbaijan is made to leave the shell of its
non-public policy and react to different serious and new challenges.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress