Ha'aretz: "U.S. calls on president of Azerbaijan to open mission in Israel"

The subject was raised last week during the visit of the Azeri president to Washington, where he met with President George W. Bush and other senior members of the administration.

Aliyev did not respond to the American request and sources said that he is unlikely to undertake such a move in the near future, and certainly not during the period in which Azerbaijan heads the Economic Cooperation Organization, a regional group comprising predominantly Muslim and Turkic states from Central Asia.

The American request follows an appeal by Israel to the Bush administration, which was made to boost a similar demand by Jewish American groups.

Israel has had a diplomatic mission in the Azeri capital Baku since 1993, but Azerbaijan, whose majority Turkic population is predominantly Shi'a, has avoided reciprocating with an embassy of its own in Israel.

Several months ago, a large delegation of Jewish American representatives, led by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, visited Baku and called for the opening of an official Azeri representation in Israel during their meeting with President Aliyev.

During his visit to Washington, President Aliyev was presented with the American request at a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. The State Department had received a request from the Israeli Foreign Ministry to raise the idea with Aliyev.

Leaders of American Jewish organizations with whom Aliyev met during his Washington visit also reiterated the request to open an embassy in Israel.

An American invitation for the Azeri leader had been long in coming, in part because the totalitarian regime in the former Soviet Republic has come under criticism in the U.S. However, American strategic interests appear to have superseded concerns over democratization in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is strategically located north of Iran and Washington is concerned that Tehran's influence may grow there. Similarly, Aliyev is considered to enjoy the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom U.S. relations have cooled considerably in recent months.

It appears that the conclusion in decision-making circles in Washington is that democratization in Azerbaijan is not likely to succeed in the foreseeable future, and that in view of the current strategic situation, more immediate and practical American interests demand closer ties with Baku, despite Aliyev's unpalatable regime.

During meetings in Washington, American officials asked Aliyev to initiate democratic reforms in Azerbaijan and to serve as a stabilizing factor in the area.

The request to open a diplomatic mission in Israel was incorporated within this broader context, in which Azeri openness would serve as counterweight to the Iranian threats against Israel.

Official Azeri sources said in recent days that the crisis between Iran and the West should be solved by peaceful means. For their part, Iranian officials said that they were confident that their Azeri neighbors would not assist the U.S. against them.

The Iranians have interpreted American efforts to improve relations with Azerbaijan as a bid to use Azeri territory for attacks against Tehran's nuclear facilities.

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