Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BAKU541
2006-04-07 13:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baku
Cable title:
IRAN JAMMING AZERBAIJANI TV SIGNALS
how-toVZCZCXRO6134 OO RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS DE RUEHKB #0541 0971356 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 071356Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY BAKU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0096 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000541
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, NEA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PROP ECPS IR AJ
SUBJECT: IRAN JAMMING AZERBAIJANI TV SIGNALS
Classified By: DCM Jason P. Hyland per 1.4 (b,d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000541
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, NEA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PROP ECPS IR AJ
SUBJECT: IRAN JAMMING AZERBAIJANI TV SIGNALS
Classified By: DCM Jason P. Hyland per 1.4 (b,d).
1. (SBU) The owners of independent ANS TV (by far the most
independent channel in Azerbaijan) told PAO that Iran has
been jamming its broadcasts in southern Azerbaijan for
months. The owners said that ANS had switched frequencies
once or twice but the Iranians, with much more powerful
transmitters, have been intentionally jamming their signals.
That this was happening to both ANS and Lider TV (also
independently owned but with a completely pro-GOAJ slant) was
confirmed by both the Frequency Commission and the head of
the state-run National Television and Radio Council. He
noted that Azerbaijan has similar problems with other
neighbors (even Kazakhstan across the Caspian) but said that
the situation with Iran is the worst, describing it as
"ideological warfare." He said that there was a danger of
this case escalating tit-for-tat, adding that he hoped the
Ministry of Communications would be able to resolve this
diplomatically.
2. (C) Opposition MP Iltizam Akbarli, from southern
Azerbaijan's Imishli region, separately raised this issue
with Pol/Econ Chief. Akbarli confirmed that Iran had been
jamming ANS and Lider television transmissions for some time.
As a result, the only television channels available in
southern Azerbaijan are state-run AzTV and the Iranian
channels. Akbarli worried about the effects of the jamming
on the people of southern Azerbaijan People there, he said,
have access to nothing but the GOAJ side of the story, a
significant detriment to democratic development. He also
said that faced with the choice of stultifying GOAJ news
broadcasts or more interesting Iranian programs, Akbarli's
constituents increasingly are tuning in to Iranian programs.
He noted that some Iranian programs are filled with messages
of religious extremism and incitement to violence, messages
he feared could be embraced by the traditionally conservative
communities of southern Azerbaijan.
3. (SBU) A USAID contractor who prepared a frequency map of
Azerbaijan for the Ministry of Communications in the summer
of 2005 said that the GOAJ had attempted to block Iranian
jamming by constructing nine transmitters near the border,
which apparently have now been overpowered. The contractor
also said that the Iranians had a "barrier" of transmitters
along their northern border, with signals reaching all the
way to Baku. The signals, however, are strong enough for
transmission only as far north as Ganja, Baku's second
largest city.
HARNISH
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, NEA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PROP ECPS IR AJ
SUBJECT: IRAN JAMMING AZERBAIJANI TV SIGNALS
Classified By: DCM Jason P. Hyland per 1.4 (b,d).
1. (SBU) The owners of independent ANS TV (by far the most
independent channel in Azerbaijan) told PAO that Iran has
been jamming its broadcasts in southern Azerbaijan for
months. The owners said that ANS had switched frequencies
once or twice but the Iranians, with much more powerful
transmitters, have been intentionally jamming their signals.
That this was happening to both ANS and Lider TV (also
independently owned but with a completely pro-GOAJ slant) was
confirmed by both the Frequency Commission and the head of
the state-run National Television and Radio Council. He
noted that Azerbaijan has similar problems with other
neighbors (even Kazakhstan across the Caspian) but said that
the situation with Iran is the worst, describing it as
"ideological warfare." He said that there was a danger of
this case escalating tit-for-tat, adding that he hoped the
Ministry of Communications would be able to resolve this
diplomatically.
2. (C) Opposition MP Iltizam Akbarli, from southern
Azerbaijan's Imishli region, separately raised this issue
with Pol/Econ Chief. Akbarli confirmed that Iran had been
jamming ANS and Lider television transmissions for some time.
As a result, the only television channels available in
southern Azerbaijan are state-run AzTV and the Iranian
channels. Akbarli worried about the effects of the jamming
on the people of southern Azerbaijan People there, he said,
have access to nothing but the GOAJ side of the story, a
significant detriment to democratic development. He also
said that faced with the choice of stultifying GOAJ news
broadcasts or more interesting Iranian programs, Akbarli's
constituents increasingly are tuning in to Iranian programs.
He noted that some Iranian programs are filled with messages
of religious extremism and incitement to violence, messages
he feared could be embraced by the traditionally conservative
communities of southern Azerbaijan.
3. (SBU) A USAID contractor who prepared a frequency map of
Azerbaijan for the Ministry of Communications in the summer
of 2005 said that the GOAJ had attempted to block Iranian
jamming by constructing nine transmitters near the border,
which apparently have now been overpowered. The contractor
also said that the Iranians had a "barrier" of transmitters
along their northern border, with signals reaching all the
way to Baku. The signals, however, are strong enough for
transmission only as far north as Ganja, Baku's second
largest city.
HARNISH