No aid to Israel

"Süddeutsche Zeitung", translated by Orkhan Sattarov

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has denied reports that Azerbaijan is ready to support Israel in its attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. In a conversation with Süddeutsche Zeitung he justified massive arms at the disposal of his country, and called the conflict with neighboring Armenia "one of the biggest risks to the security of the region."

"The use of military bases in Azerbaijan by Israeli air forces is impossible - Mammadyarov said. - All issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program should be resolved by diplomatic means. A large number of Azerbaijanis live in Iran, and we do not want them to become victims of this war." The US media have reported earlier with reference to the military establishment, that in case of an attack on Iran, Israeli bombers could be using military airports in neighboring Azerbaijan for refueling. Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran which is 600 km. The former Soviet republic has good diplomatic relations with Israel, the countries also cooperate in the military sphere.

Azerbaijan, which had an oil boom in 1998 leading to an impressive economic growth is becoming a more and more confident regional power in the South Caucasus. Parallel to that it is in the process of large-scale arming. In 2011, the country has doubled its military budget to 2.4 billion euros, which is 6.2% of country’s GDP. It spring it became known that Azerbaijan signed a military deal with Israel worth 1.2 billion euros. While Israel considers it necessary to arm its ally situated on the border with Iran, Azerbaijan has other priorities. Since the war over Nagorno-Karabakh started in the 1990s, Azerbaijan and Armenia have not been at peace. "Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, - Mammadyarov said. - Everywhere in these regions there have been ethnic cleansings in its worst forms." Four resolutions of the UN Security Council have demanded an immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops from the Azerbaijani territory. Unfortunately, Armenia has not realized these demands to date, the minister said.

When the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev pardoned Ramil Safarov, the murderer of an Armenian officer, the tension between the two countries increased. The Azerbaijani army lieutenant, who participated at a seminar in the framework of a NATO program "Partnership for Peace" in Budapest in 2004, entered the room of an Armenian participant of the seminar at night and killed him with an ax. After the Hungarian justice extradited Safarov who had been convicted for life in Budapest back to his homeland, he was welcomed in Azerbaijan, immediately pardoned and promoted in rank. Mammadyarov  has called the incident in Budapest "regrettable," but said that it must be considered in a broader context: "The problem lies not in Safarov, but in the occupied territories. Given the fact that Armenian soldiers are present on our territory and that the Azerbaijanis, who were expelled from these areas and whose family members were brutally murdered - and Safarov was one of those who had been expelled - it becomes clear that such incidents are going happen." According to the minister, the pardoning of Safarov has not been detrimental to the image of Azerbaijan: "I would say that the case of Safarov again brought the conflict on the international agenda. Safarov is a consequence while the cause is the war and the expulsion of people. "

Mammadyarov has also explained that a high budget of the military is due to the conflict with Armenia. "Yes, Azerbaijan is strengthening its defense capability, but it would be surprising if a country with 20% of its territory occupied would not be increasing its military budget." The fact that Azerbaijani military budget exceeds the entire budget of Armenia is certainly putting pressure on a more unfortunate neighbor. Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan will be happy to lower its military budget but only if Armenia withdraws its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.