AZERBAIJAN: IS IRAN THE REASON FOR THE CIA DIRECTOR’S RECENT VISIT TO BAKU?
Rovshan Ismayilov 10/04/07
”Political analysts in Baku are debating the reasons for an unannounced late September trip to Azerbaijan by Central Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Hayden. US diplomats remain tight-lipped about the visit. Many local experts, however, contend that Hayden’s talks with Azerbaijani leaders likely concerned Iran, Azerbaijan’s neighbor to the south…”
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“Some Azerbaijani analysts, however, see “the Iranian issue” as the most pressing reason for the CIA director’s trip. The trip came five days before an October 3 statement by US President George W. Bush that Washington was prepared, under certain conditions, to negotiate with Tehran on the nuclear issue.
“This is a leader who has made very provocative statements, and we have made it clear, however, in spite of that we are willing to sit down with him so long as he suspends his program, his nuclear weapons program,” President Bush said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “In other words, it’s his choice not mine any more.”
“It is obvious that the CIA director would not travel to Baku without a serious reason for discussions,” commented expert Rasim Musabekov. “It is clear – most likely Iranian issues were discussed.”…”
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AZERBAIJAN AND TURKMENISTAN PROBE RAPPROCHEMENT
Rovshan Ismayilov 6/18/07 : http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav061807a.shtml
“After a decade of enmity, Caspian Sea energy players Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have announced an ambitious plan to bolster cooperation.
A June 12 announcement by Azerbaijani Energy Minister Natik Aliyev on the possible joint exploration of an offshore Caspian Sea oil field — dubbed Kapaz by Azerbaijan, and Serdar by Turkmenistan — could serve as the point of departure in a broad rapprochement. The question of which country controls the rights to the oilfield has been at the center of the decade-long bilateral chill…”
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“Both the United States and European Union have used the budding rapprochement to renew lobbying for the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline (TCP) between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan as a link to European markets. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Azerbaijani observers largely see the campaign as a response to a May 12 agreement between Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan for a rival Caspian Sea gas pipeline. At a June 6 speech at Baku’s Oil & Gas Conference, Bryza stressed that energy research estimates forecast that shipping gas from Turkmenistan to Europe via a TCP route would be “50 percent cheaper” than via the proposed route linking Turkmenistan with Kazakhstan and Russia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]…”
Sonia
