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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAKU 000433 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2019 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ENRG ETRD PREL RS IZ TU AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTER: SEEKING STRONG 
RELATIONS, MORE U.S. SUPPORT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse.  Reasons:  1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  On May 21, the Defense Minister told 
visiting EUCOM Commander Craddock that Azerbaijan is 
committed to building strong military relations with the U.S. 
and NATO.  However, the Minister continued, Azerbaijan is 
under pressure from Iran, Russia and Armenia and requires 
greater commitment from the United States.  He specifically 
asked the U.S. for weapon sales and enhanced diplomatic 
engagement to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  His 
talking points coincided almost exactly with the President's. 
 The one exception was a specific request for assistance in 
the construction of a new naval base to NATO standards.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C) EUCOM Commander General Bantz Craddock, accompanied 
by the Ambassador, POLAD Katherine Canavan, Major General 
Kisner (SOCEUR) and Major General Schafer met separately with 
Defense Minister Safar Abiyev on May 21. (Septels report 
General Craddock's meetings with President Aliyev and Foreign 
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.)  Abiyev was accompanied by Naval 
Chief Admiral Sultanov and International Relations Chief 
General Najafov. 
 
SEEKING NATO STANDARDS 
---------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Abiyev welcomed General Craddock, stating that 
Azerbaijan, since the early days of its independence, had 
pursued the policy of building strong ties with NATO and the 
U.S.  Today, U.S.-Azerbaijan relations are approaching "the 
highest level," including on mil-to-mil cooperation and 
cooperation with NATO that is expanding year after year. 
U.S.-Azerbaijani relations are broad, Abiyev said, 
underscoring that without U.S. support, the 
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas 
pipeline would not have been realized.  Azerbaijan's 
interoperability with NATO is increasing, as it adopts the 
NATO staff structure.  "Since last January, all exercises and 
training are being conducted to NATO standards, and 
Azerbaijan is cooperating with NATO nations in conducting 
joint training," the Defense Minister averred. 
 
¶4.  (C) Azerbaijan has been a strong supporter of the U.S. in 
fighting terrorism since 2001, allowing the U.S. to "use all 
of our capabilities."  Azerbaijani troops serve in 
Afghanistan, and served in Kosovo until recently and with the 
U.S. Marines in Iraq.  Azerbaijan recently doubled its troops 
in Afghanistan. 
 
AZERBAIJAN REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Azerbaijan itself, however, remains under pressure, 
Abiyev said.  The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not been 
solved; seventeen years of negotiations have produced no 
results.  The U.S. is a Minsk Group Co-chair and Azerbaijan 
would like to see the U.S. take "stronger efforts" to produce 
results in this process.  The situation "obliges" Azerbaijan 
to increase its military capabilities; Azerbaijan "has to be 
ready to liberate its territories by force." 
 
¶6.  (C) NATO and the U.S. should pay more attention to the 
Caucasus, Abiyev said.  Russia and Iran are seeking to hinder 
Azerbaijani and Caucasus' nations relations with the U.S. and 
NATO "not only politically, but militarily," as the war in 
Georgia illustrated.  The process of political and military 
pressure by Russia continues and is increasing in the region. 
 Russia provided $800 million in arms to Armenia.  Although 
both Russia and Armenia deny it, the equipment is in the 
occupied territories.  As long as Azerbaijani territories are 
occupied, peace in the Caucasus is not possible.  "We demand 
that Armenia withdraw and IDP's be allowed to return," Abiyev 
said. 
 
¶7.  (C) General Craddock told Abiyev that the Caucasus is a 
key geo-strategic region for the U.S., NATO and the world in 
the 21st Century.  The U.S. is encouraged by our mil-to-mil 
cooperation, which we plan to increase in the future, working 
closely with Azerbaijan.  This is not easy; the political 
situation affects what we seek to accomplish in mil-to-mil 
relations.  The U.S. needs to understand Azerbaijan's 
strategic vision and, to the extent we can, work together. 
The possibility for friction and conflict exists in the 
Caucasus.  EUCOM will focus more effort on Azerbaijan and the 
region, and NATO will as well, largely due to Afghanistan. 
 
BAKU 00000433  002 OF 003 
 
 
The U.S. appreciates Azerbaijan's contributions in 
Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq, which we know entails political 
costs, Craddock said.  He added that he appreciates the 
difficulty of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and hopes 
diplomacy will succeed.  Although it may be slow, it is the 
right process to achieve a resolution.  We should stop those 
who seek to derail it or prevent its successful conclusion. 
 
¶8.  (C) Responding with respect to Azerbaijan's strategic 
vision, Abiyev said that Azerbaijan has declared its desire 
for and is working towards a strategic partnership with the 
U.S.  Azerbaijan is also enhancing its partnership with 
Europe.  Azerbaijan's future directions depend to a large 
extent on U.S. policy, European policy and NATO policy toward 
Azerbaijan.  All these partners verbally assert that they 
support Azerbaijan.  "But these are words -- in practice, no 
(support is evident)."  Hence the GOAJ is concerned.  Georgia 
and the Ukraine, for example, declared their intention to 
join NATO, and "you see the results . . . the situation in 
the Ukraine has worsened, and in Georgia, no one helped them 
in August.  Russian troops went to Tbilisi, they destroyed 
the Georgian armed forces, and the political situation in 
Georgia is tense as well. " 
 
¶9.  (C) "If the U.S. and Europe would accept Azerbaijan and 
Georgia as NATO members, we wouldn't face this situation," 
Abiyev stated.  Instead, the U.S. attaches more importance to 
Armenia.  This, he said, "is a mistake."  General Ralston and 
Secretary Rumsfeld, in the past, delivered "great messages" 
to the U.S. Congress on the importance of relations with 
Azerbaijan, but today no one is making this case.  Contacts 
at the Pentagon tell the GOAJ that "the Pentagon is trying, 
but State imposes obstacles." 
 
¶10.  (C) Abiyev said that Azerbaijan relies on former Soviet- 
and Russian-produced equipment for its defense.  Russia 
equips Armenia with no one's permission, but Azerbaijan 
receives "not one bullet" from the U.S.  Where is the 
substance in the U.S.-Azerbaijan partnership, he asked.  "We 
would like to see changes."  It is difficult for Azerbaijan 
to allocate peacekeeping forces with 70 percent of its troops 
on the front line.  The U.S. has spent "$10 billion" in 
support of Armenia since independence, and much less on 
Azerbaijan. 
 
¶11.   (C) Abiyev said Azerbaijan has closed its airspace to 
Russian military flights to Armenia and is urging Georgia to 
do the same.  This will affect Russian and Armenian armed 
forces.  Azerbaijan would like to see greater U.S. support -- 
Azerbaijan must have joint work with and open relations with 
both the U.S. and NATO, and there must be "positive results" 
form this cooperation.  Moreover, if Azerbaijan and Georgia 
are assured true independence, Armenia will turn west and 
detach itself form Russia.  But this is not possible today, 
when Russia is supplying Armenia through Iran, and the U.S. 
is pressuring Turkey to open the border.  Only Russia and 
Armenia benefit from opening of the Turkey-Armenia border, 
and "Russia will never let it happen if it is negative for 
Russian interests." 
 
¶12.  (C) Abiyev said that the Ministry of Defense wants to 
build a new base for the Navy.  The U.S. says it cannot 
provide weapons, but we have cooperation under the Caspian 
Maritime Security program.  Azerbaijan seeks USG assistance 
to establish a new base that meets NATO standards.  General 
Craddock replied that a security cooperation agreement 
between the U.S. and Azerbaijan would be a positive step, for 
which he would advocate in Washington.  This would send a 
strong signal that "there are implications" to anyone who 
would make mischief in the region.  The U.S. and Azerbaijan 
should establish a dialogue to work towards an agreement. 
After many years of focus primarily on Afghanistan and Iraq, 
the new U.S. Administration and the new NATO Secretary 
General, with a new strategic concept, will be re-examining 
issues in the Caucasus.  Thus, both bilaterally and 
multilaterally, there should be new prospects for 
cooperation.  The U.S. and Azerbaijan must work together to 
make this happen; it is a two-way street.  Abiyev agreed, 
underscoring that Azerbaijan has always "expended maximum 
effort" to build closer cooperation with the U.S. and NATO, 
and further developing cooperation must indeed be a "two-way 
street." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 
BAKU 00000433  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶13.  (C) The Defense Minister provided the obligatory lecture 
on Armenian intransigence on the Nagorno-Karabakh and 
Turkey-Armenia reconciliation question.  For Abiyev, however, 
it was the abridged lecture.  Instead, he echoed strongly and 
with greater specificity President Aliyev's message of 
seeking greater security engagement with the West.  Abiyev 
now regularly asks senior American visitors about weapons 
sales.  The Embassy has encouraged his staff to work with the 
Office of Defense Cooperation to identify items to purchase 
of a purely defensive character, rather than the many lethal, 
high-tech items in which the Ministry has so far expressed 
interest. 
 
DERSE