SOVEREIGN RIGHTS AND "MUSLIM SOLIDARITY"

"I can say that even before visiting your country I was in love with Azerbaijan. There are similarities between our states. Although our countries are not so large, our people have big hearts," Israeli President Shimon Peres said during a visit to Baku on 28-29 June. He was accompanied by an impressive delegation, which included three ministers and about 50 businessmen.

Agreement on Peres's visit to Azerbaijan was reached during the Prague summit in May, at which Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Since then numerous comments have been made about the visit, but Azerbaijan and Israel dispelled all speculation and decided to focus on the positive aspects - the visit was quite successful, first of all for Baku, which has once again demonstrated its diplomatic maturity and the independence of its foreign policy.

The agenda for the Israeli delegation's two-day visit to Baku included issues concerning bilateral relations: in the economic sphere, the situations in the South Caucasus and Middle East, etc.

Both sides also stressed the importance of cooperation with each other. "Our relations are developing successfully. I am sure that the visit will play a crucial role in further ties," Ilham Aliyev said after the expanded format of talks.

The Azerbaijani president also pointed to the "existence of a Jewish community in Azerbaijan which has lived in conditions of peace and friendship for centuries".

"The citizens of Israel who were born in Azerbaijan and who currently live and work in Israel also play an important part in the development of bilateral relations. In essence, they act as an Azerbaijani lobby in Israel," Aliyev said.

In response, Peres said there was an atmosphere of tolerance in Azerbaijan and he expressed his gratitude for the decent treatment of the Jewish community. "This has been the case historically. The Jews who have come to Israel from Azerbaijan have always spoken highly of your country. We are at the beginning of a new road. This is a great and promising start. Today, small countries should not confine themselves to their innovation, they should move towards new horizons, to a national concept and thought. The agreements to be reached will open up new bilateral opportunities for our two states."

"Azerbaijan has displayed tolerance and respect for a place where Jews, Muslims and Christians can live without hatred and bigotry. This is why it is a very special country for me, a country I am sure I can trust. It has deep cultural roots. Oil can be bought, but culture has to be created. Azerbaijan has created its own culture," Shimon Peres had told Trend News before the visit.

It is worth mentioning that national leader Heydar Aliyev did a great deal to build the spirit of tolerance in Azerbaijan. He clearly stated that he would not stand for any manifestations of anti-Semitism. 

Azerbaijan and Israel signed two intergovernmental agreements in Baku: on cooperation in the areas of culture, education and science and on cooperation in the areas of information and communication technology. Further, agreement was reached for the Israeli company Shikun u-binuy to build a $359 million highway in Baku, while another company, Aeronautics, will construct a high technology plant.

Shimon Peres said during meetings with Azerbaijani officials that the two countries should establish a productive exchange: Azerbaijan can give Israel oil and Israel can give Azerbaijan technology.

During a meeting with the President of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, Rovnag Abdullayev, the Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Uri Landau, reaffirmed his country's interest in buying more Azerbaijani oil and gas within the framework of its diversification policy. Israel is also interested in building oil and gas pipelines from Azerbaijan.

"After taking an interest in the global energy projects being implemented in Azerbaijan, Landau said that an energy link between Azerbaijan and Israel was of particular importance for his country from the standpoint of energy diversification," says a report circulated by SOCAR. "The uninterrupted and reliable operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines allows the possibility of future access for Caspian oil and gas to the Red Sea," said Abdullayev.

At the same time, touching upon the potential delivery of Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon resources to Israel, Peres said this "has both economic and political aspects". The volume of trade between the two countries in 2008 was $3.6 billion, while in the first four months of this year Israel was fourth in rank of those countries importing Azerbaijani products. It commands 7.31% of Azerbaijan's total exports over this period. Israel mainly buys crude oil from Azerbaijan.

Aliyev also expressed his confidence that the volume of trade in 2009 would be at the same level and perhaps even exceed last year's, due to the great prospects for cooperation in agriculture, public health, tourism, science, technology and the space industry. It is already known that Azerbaijan and Israel intend to establish a joint farm.

It goes without saying that politics was top of the agenda for Shimon Peres's visit to Baku. It is worth emphasizing that the Israeli president confirmed his country's support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and for a peaceful settlement to the Karabakh conflict. 

"Despite the occupation, you have preserved your culture and optimism. I can understand the complexity of the problem of one million refugees and internally displaced persons in a country with eight million people. It means that an eighth of the country's population has refugee status. However, you are coping with the problem very well," Peres said.

There is more than just Israel's support for Azerbaijan behind the statement - it also means the support of the USA. It can be seen as yet another move by Washington to strengthen its influence in the region through its loyal strategic partner - Israel.

At the same time, the fact that Baku is often in the White House's sights, be it directly or indirectly, also attests to the growing geopolitical importance of Azerbaijan and the role it is playing in the South Caucasus.

It is also clear that, while improving its relations with Israel, Azerbaijan is making room to promote its own interests. It can now be expected that Azerbaijan will seek greater support from the influential Jewish community in the USA, because it will be in the latter's interests for Washington to strengthen partnerships with Israel's allies. Equally important for Azerbaijan is protection against the resistance of the Armenian lobby, which sometimes contributes to the adoption of anti-Azerbaijani laws and decisions by US law-makers. But even if we put aside the US factor, there is much that Azerbaijan may gain from cooperation with Israel, a country with serious geopolitical weight.  

Meanwhile, many observes view Peres's visit to Baku as a successful step by Azerbaijan and Israel against the union of Iran and Armenia which, due to their reluctance to reckon with international opinion, namely their neighbours, have actually become regional pariahs. Whereas Armenia mainly observed the development, as is usual, Iran openly expressed its discontent over the visit by the Israeli president to Azerbaijan. 

The Iranian chief of staff, Hasan Firuzabadi, said that the visit would cause problems between Iran and Azerbaijan and that the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan should be shut down. 1news.az news agency reported, quoting Iran's Fars, that Iranian MPs had urged the country's foreign minister, Monuchehr Mottaki, to shed light on the issue. Iranian deputies think that Peres's visit to Azerbaijan will not serve the interests of friendship between Iran and Azerbaijan.

However, Baku made it clear that it will not tolerate interference in its internal affairs. As a result, reports emerged on 29 June that Iran had recalled its ambassador to Azerbaijan for consultations. 

Menashe Amir, leading Israeli expert on Iran, has said that Shimon Peres's visit to Baku worries Iran greatly, because it extends the distance from Azerbaijan even further.

"It should also be remembered that Iran actively supports Armenia, supplies it with arms and oil, provides it with military, technical and material aid and energy resources. Iran has never condemned Armenia for its aggression against Azerbaijan," the expert said.

At the same time, it is obvious that the Israeli president's visit to Baku is unlikely to affect Azerbaijani-Iranian relations a great deal. Iran is not in a position to display its character, while Azerbaijan has already done so and done it well. 

It may also be supposed that Peres's visit heralds active Israeli involvement in the Caucasus. This will certainly take effect very softly and carefully, because Israel's influence in the region is not as strong as that of Turkey, the EU and the USA. But such ideas do exist. For instance, a former member of the Knesset, Josef Shagal, who currently heads the international organization Israel-Azerbaijan, said Israel could reinforce its stance in the region by becoming a mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Besides, Peres must have used the visit to Baku as an opportunity to restore relations with Turkey, strained in the aftermath of Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.

The fact that Azerbaijan and Israel have reached agreement on the construction of a plant manufacturing intelligence and unmanned aircraft speaks volumes. The Israeli defence industry company Elta Systems Ltd will be cooperating with Azerbaijan in the creation of a system of satellites. The company has recently announced the development of the TecSAR satellite, which enables the production of high-resolution images of the earth regardless of weather conditions. Azerbaijani military experts believe that this system is indispensable in conducting military operations in mountains. In view of the terrain in Karabakh, such a system would be very useful.

Israel and Azerbaijan are also in talks on the production of armoured infantry vehicles. A fully-equipped Namer is expected to cost $2 million. The two countries intend to cooperate in other sectors of the defence industry.

Shimon Peres also expressed the hope that an Azerbaijani embassy would open in Israel soon. "I think the more our cooperation develops, the more necessary this is," he said.