CODEL TIERNEY'S JULY 3 MEETING WITH PRESIDENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BAKU 000852 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2017 TAGS: ECON EFIN ENRG PREL PGOV PINR AJ IR PBTS SUBJECT: CODEL TIERNEY'S JULY 3 MEETING WITH PRESIDENT ALIYEV REF: BAKU 722 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES DONALD LU PER REASONS 1.4 (B,D). ¶1. SUMMARY: In a friendly and relaxed July 3 meeting, Representative John Tierney and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev exchanged views on Azerbaijan's development, regional role and strong relationship with the U.S. and the West. On the Gabala radar station, Aliyev stated that if Russia and the U.S. agreed to share the station then Azerbaijan would also support this proposal. Aliyev highlighted the positive signals from the new leader in Turkmenistan and offered to support any U.S. initiatives to link Turkmenistan's energy resources with the West through Azerbaijan. He cautioned that Russia played an important role in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and highlighted the strong links between Armenia and Russia. Aliyev told Tierney that Azerbaijan is concerned with Iran's continued nuclear program and propaganda efforts in Azerbaijan. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Congressman John Tierney (D-MA),accompanied by the Ambassador, met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev July 3 and discussed U.S.-Azerbaijan relations, the status of the Gabala radar station, regional issues and the importance of more U.S. lawmakers visiting Azerbaijan to learn the "real story" about Azerbaijan. President Aliyev told Tierney that the U.S. and Azerbaijan are "good partners" both in political and military areas, while recognizing that Azerbaijan is in a "difficult neighborhood." Aliyev told Tierney that "he greatly appreciated" his visit to Azerbaijan, adding that the congressman could get "the real feel" of Azerbaijan. GABALA RADAR STATION -------------- ¶3. (C) Answering Tierney's question regarding the latest status of the Gabala radar station (reftel),Aliyev said that the offer by Russia had been "good" for Azerbaijan since it had raised the country's international profile. The president said that the announcement had no impact on Azerbaijan and that if it works, then the Government of Azerbaijan will be glad to be part of the global security process. If the arrangement does not work, however, then Azerbaijan will not suffer since the proposal was from Russia. Finally, he stated that if the U.S. and Russia agree, then Azerbaijan "will join" since, according to the 2002 agreement governing Russia's use of the radar station, Azerbaijan must agree on all third party participation in the station's operations. ¶4. (C) Aliyev told Tierney that the Russian offer to the U.S. to use Gabala had come as a "surprise" and did not affect U.S.-Azerbaijan policy. He told Tierney that Putin had called from his airplane to talk with him about the proposal but that the call's reception was poor and he did not get the full details until Putin announced the offer at the G8 summit. Aliyev added that the President of Poland had expressed concern about the offer and asked Azerbaijan not to encourage the Russian proposal. Aliyev confided to Tierney that prior to the Russian announcement, Azerbaijan had contemplated possibly ending Russia's use of the station per the original agreement in 2012 and not extending Russian involvement. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan "did not benefit from the station and did not need the money from Russia." He added that when the original contract was signed in 2002, Azerbaijan needed the money but now that was not the case. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan would prefer to end Russian usage of the station since Russia had no other presence in Azerbaijan. AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA RELATIONS -------------- ¶5. (C) President Aliyev said that many in Congress have "different information" on Azerbaijan and hold a negative view of Azerbaijan. He stated that the Armenian lobby is working against Azerbaijan, trying to discredit it and mislead Congress. Aliyev said that it was important to improve the image of Azerbaijan since the U.S. and Azerbaijan had been partners for many years. Aliyev called the section 907 restriction "ridiculous" and lamented that Congress believed only the Armenian lobby's statements regarding BAKU 00000852 002 OF 004 Azerbaijan, adding that the Armenian Caucus had more than 200 members. ¶6. (C) Tierney told Aliyev that he was a member of the Armenian Caucus and was also married to an Armenian-American. Tierney agreed with Aliyev that Congress needs to become more educated about the tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia and to know the "real situation" in both countries. Tierney added that Congress needed to keep an open mind beyond the annual Armenian genocide resolution. Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan had nothing to do with the Armenian genocide issue, adding that it was an issue between Turkey and Armenia and should not be expanded to include Azerbaijan. ¶7. (C) Comparing the two countries, Aliyev told Tierney that Armenia is in a "different camp," highlighting its Common Defense Treaty with Russia, Russian border troops and the recent shipment of Russian military equipment to Armenia from Georgia. In addition, Aliyev told Tierney that Armenia and Iran maintain close relations, and Armenia receives natural gas from Iran. He noted that Russia's Gazprom plays a dominant role in controlling Armenia's energy pipeline system. Aliyev also said the Armenian president has indicated that Armenia will not seek NATO membership while Azerbaijan is actively upgrading its military with the ultimate aim of joining NATO. ¶8. (C) Aliyev continued that Azerbaijan had sent troops to Iraq earlier than Armenia and was playing a key role with Georgia to develop the region's role in international energy security through its energy pipeline system. Aliyev concluded by telling Tierney that it was not bad to be pro-Armenia but that it was bad to be anti-Azerbaijan. He also invited pro-Armenian congressmen to Azerbaijan, naming Frank Pallone, Mark Kirk and Adam Schiff. Tierney supported the idea of having more U.S. congressmen visit Azerbaijan to see how it is developing and understand its positive role on strategic regional issues. NAGORNO KARABAKH AND MINSK GROUP -------------- ¶9. (C) Aliyev stated that overall he was satisfied with the hard work of the Minsk Group but that the group had not been able to produce any positive results, which he blamed on Armenia and Russia. He said that the group had worked hard to complete the basic principles agreement but that success depended upon Russia's policy towards Armenia. He added that tensions between the U.S. and Russia do not help the process and that ultimately Russia's objectives and goals in Armenia would lead to a settlement. RUSSIA AND IRAN -------------- ¶10. (C) Aliyev stated that Russia was not interested in Azerbaijan looking to the West, adding that a failed coup attempt in Azerbaijan in the mid-1990s was orchestrated by Russia. Russia, he said, had also shown open resistance to the oil deals Azerbaijan signed with Western companies in the late 1990s. He stated that in 1996 the Government of Iran also "made noise" on Caspian delimitation as Azerbaijan was opening up Caspian energy fields to Western companies. Azerbaijan's energy revenues have allowed Azerbaijan to modernize, according to Aliyev, and have enabled it to remain economically independent from other countries. Aliyev recognized that Russian President Putin had been extremely active in the region, visiting Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. He urged the U.S. to engage at "a higher level of communication" in order to counter Putin's visits and pressure. ¶11. (C) Regarding Iran, President Aliyev said that President Ahmadinejad "was an unpredictable person" who believes he can do anything. Aliyev said that Iran's nuclear program has not stopped and that Azerbaijan is extremely concerned since it shares a 1,000 kilometer border with Iran. Aliyev added that Iran's economic situation was not good and that it had to ration gasoline supplies. Aliyev told Tierney that the GOAJ is working hard to combat Iran's efforts to spread propaganda in Azerbaijan, noting that Iran is sending religious books to Azerbaijan and training young people. Aliyev believes, however, that public opinion is against Iranian influence and BAKU 00000852 003 OF 004 that Iranian outreach therefore only affected a small percentage of the population. ¶12. (C) Regarding U.S. policy towards Iran, Aliyev said that it was difficult to provide advice in dealing with Iran since all possible options were "bad." He stated that giving in to Iran through concessions would only strengthen the hard-liners, but any possible military strikes would be bad and any attempts to negotiate would be difficult. Aliyev stated that he believed all international efforts needed to be coordinated, and that the U.S. and EU needed to consult more actively on the way forward regarding Iran, noting that many European, Russian and Chinese companies do business with Iran. TURKMENISTAN AND KAZAKHSTAN -------------- ¶12. (C) Turning to Turkmenistan, President Aliyev stated that the U.S. needed to persuade the Government of Turkmenistan to "join Azerbaijan" in selling its gas resources to the West. Aliyev believed that there had been some positive signals from the Turkmen government and that the U.S. had also been actively engaging with the new leadership. He stated that his meeting with the new Turkmen president had been good and that they needed to continue the dialogue. ¶14. (C) Aliyev added that Azerbaijan was ready to assist the U.S. jointly in persuading Turkmenistan to join the East-West energy corridor but that in the end the decision rested with Turkmenistan (and Kazakhstan) to join Azerbaijan. Aliyev offered to call the President of Turkmenistan to discuss with him the options for his energy resources. Aliyev also lamented the lack of EU engagement with Turkmenistan. ¶15. (C) Aliyev told Tierney that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan had signed an inter-governmental agreement regarding energy resources in 2006 and that both countries were working with the international energy companies (Chevron and Total) to ship Kazakh crude south to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. ENERGY -------------- ¶16. (C) President Aliyev briefed Tierney on Azerbaijan's energy resources, noting that Azerbaijani had gas reserves totaling 1.5 trillion cubic meters. He told Tierney that Azerbaijani gas had finally reached Turkey and that Turkey would re-export the gas to Greece. In addition, Azerbaijan, according to Aliyev, was supplying Georgia with 75 percent of its domestic needs. He also briefed on last year's negotiations with Gazprom over gas imports, adding happily that 2006 was the last year that Azerbaijan needed to import gas from Russia. ¶17. (C) Turning to Azerbaijan's efforts to sell gas to Greece and Europe, a visibly annoyed President Aliyev told Tierney and the Ambassador that when Azerbaijan attempted to arrange a meeting with the Greek PM to talk gas in Istanbul during a recent Black Sea Economic Cooperation meeting, the Greeks indicated that they had no idea about the meeting and it did not happen. Aliyev also said that while the Greeks chose not to meet with him, they arranged an unscheduled meeting in Istanbul for their FM with Russian President Putin to talk energy. Aliyev said Azerbaijan makes its money primarily selling its oil, not gas, and that if Greece and or Europe did not want Azerbaijan's gas, Azerbaijan would sell it to someone else. He added that it appeared that Azerbaijan wanted to provide Europe with its gas more than Europe wanted it and that Azerbaijan was exposing itself to Russian anger and ire. (NOTE: The Greek Charge in Baku told the Embassy that while the Greek PM had wanted to meet Aliyev during the BSEC meeting, he had other priorities. END NOTE.) AZERBAIJAN-TURKEY RELATIONS -------------- ¶18. (C) Talking about the upcoming elections in Turkey, Aliyev stated that he is concerned about the election and that Azerbaijan is closely watching the religious trends in Turkey. He added that if the future president's wife wore a head scarf, it would be "bad." Aliyev noted that at a recent Black Sea Economic Cooperation meeting in Istanbul, the BAKU 00000852 004 OF 004 Turkish Prime Minister and President barely spoke to one another. Aliyev stated that the "Islamization" of Turkey would be a "disaster" for Turkey. He thought that Turkey's efforts to join the EU should be more discrete and that Turkey was "humiliating itself" with trying to satisfy all EU countries that have domestic constituencies against Turkish membership. DEMOCRACY -------------- ¶19. (C) Turning to Azerbaijan's democratic development, Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan had made "successful progress," noting that the country had made the choice of integration and partnership with the West. He said that Azerbaijan had embraced democracy, adding that there was an active democratic process and that Azerbaijanis enjoyed many freedoms. Comparing Azerbaijan to its regional neighbors, Aliyev said that he believed Azerbaijan had gone further with democratic reforms than others. ¶20. (C) Aliyev briefed Tierney on Azerbaijan's political system, noting that all responsibilities, good and bad, rested with the executive branch. He praised Members of Parliament and said that each member has his own role. He stated that the media was not yet "effective" as an institution in society. Aliyev concluded by stating that Azerbaijan wanted to modernize, noting that its energy resources were limited, and that democracy was permanent. ¶21. (C) Aliyev cautioned, however, that Azerbaijan had to develop its own democratic processes carefully. He stated that if Azerbaijan developed too quickly without checks, its neighbors, Iran and Russia, would attempt to exploit the situation. He said mullahs from Iran would come to Azerbaijan and the oligarchs from Russia would buy the country like they did in Armenia. Azerbaijan has its own national security interests, according to Aliyev, and needs "a strong system of control." ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CORRUPTION -------------- ¶22. (C) Dodging a question regarding corruption, Aliyev stated that as the economy continued to grow that there was a danger of misusing the country's revenues. For this reason, Aliyev continued, Azerbaijan created the State Oil Fund, a transparent body to collect the massive energy revenues. The Oil Fund also played an important role in Azerbaijan's economic development through budget support and physical and social infrastructure projects. Aliyev told Tierney that the Oil Fund had recently been awarded a prestigious award for transparency from the United Nations. ¶23. (C) Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan wanted to use its energy revenues to develop human capacity and expand the country's information technology capabilities. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan wanted to join the World Trade Organization by the end of 2008. He said that over the next five years, Azerbaijan wanted to develop into a modern country, calling the European experience "positive." He stated that Azerbaijan wanted to create a better life for its citizens, expanding human rights, democracy and economic benefits. COMMENT -------------- ¶24. (C) President Aliyev appeared relaxed and interested in engaging with Congressman Tierney about Azerbaijan's image in Congress and the role of the Armenian lobby. He seemed genuine in his comments about wanting to expand the positive role of Azerbaijan in the region and in its relationship with the U.S. The President and Foreign Minister (SEPTEL) appeared to have coordinated a subtle message for Tierney highlighting Azerbaijan's positive accomplishments and strong partnership with U.S. ¶25. (U) CODEL Tierney did not have an opportunity to clear this message. LU