| Revision as of 17:23, 11 June 2007 editAtabəy (talk | contribs)Pending changes reviewers7,348 editsm template additions/improvements← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:43, 11 June 2007 edit undoDacy69 (talk | contribs)1,605 edits →Relations from 1991 to present: added only RFL source about broadcasting problems between 2 countiresNext edit → | ||
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| According to ], "Most analysts agree that the Iranian government has attempted to infiltrate Azerbaijan with agents and fifth column sleeper cells to weaken Azerbaijan from within for many years."<ref></ref> | According to ], "Most analysts agree that the Iranian government has attempted to infiltrate Azerbaijan with agents and fifth column sleeper cells to weaken Azerbaijan from within for many years."<ref></ref> | ||
| Nevertheless, the relations between the two republics are developing. On February 3, 2007 Azerbaijan’s minister of communications and information technology, ], and the head of the Iranian State Broadcasting Agency, ], signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral media cooperation. | Nevertheless, the relations between the two republics are developing. On February 3, 2007 Azerbaijan’s minister of communications and information technology, ], and the head of the Iranian State Broadcasting Agency, ], signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral media cooperation. Previously, Azerbaijan urged Iran to cease its ''"broadcasting and unauthorized transmission of Iranian Sahar-2 television into Azerbaijan"'' and ''"criticized the Azeri-language broadcasts beamed into southern Azerbaijan for containing "anti-Azerbaijani propaganda" aimed at destabilizing the southern regions of the country, and faulted the Iranian government for "interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs. Iranian officials have claimed that the broadcasts are beyond their control, as Sahar-2 is a privately owned station and merely expresses "its own position" in its programs"'' <ref></ref> | ||
| On the 12th of April, ] handed Hadi Sid Javad Musavi, an Iranian citizen affiliated with the ], to the Iranian authorities. | On the 12th of April 2007, ] handed Hadi Sid Javad Musavi, an Iranian citizen affiliated with the ], to the Iranian authorities. | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
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Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan have had relations since 1918.
Context
See also: Albania (satrapy)The territory of the present day Republic of Azerbaijan has historically been a part of Iran, specifically during the Achaemenid, Parthian, Sassanid, Safavid, and Qajar periods. The South Caucasus in general has been highly influenced by Iranian culture for thousands of years . Much of the Caucasus was conquered from Iran by Russia during the 19th century, with the treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay. Due to historical and cultural ties, the Republic of Azerbaijan is considered a part of Greater Iran . Iran and Azerbaijan are also both majority Shia.
Relations from 1918-1920
The Republic of Azerbaijan was initially founded in 1918 as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. With the collapse of Tsarist Russia in 1917, the Musavat Party met in Tbilisi on May 28, 1918 and proclaimed independence of their country with the name Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The decision to use the name Azerbaijan, drew some protests from Iran. According to Tadeusz Swietochowski:
Although the proclamation restricted its claim to the territory north of the Araxes, the use of the name Azerbaijan would soon bring objections from Iran. In Teheran, suspicions were aroused that the Republic of Azerbaijan served as an Ottoman device for detaching the Tabriz province from Iran. Likewise, the national revolutionary Jangali movement in Gilan, while welcoming the independence of every Muslim land as a "source of joy," asked in its newspaper if the choice of the name Azerbaijan implied the new republic's desire to join Iran. If so, they said, it should be stated clearly, otherwise Iranians would be opposed to calling that republic Azerbaijan. Consequently, to allay Iranian fears, the Azerbaijani government would accommodatingly use the term Caucasian Azerbaijan in its documents for circulation abroad.
Nevertheless, in 1919, Qajar Iran and Azerbaijan Democratic Republic did have some exchanges at governmental level. On 16th of July, 1919, the Council of Ministers appointed Adil Khan Ziatkhan, who had up to that time served as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic representative of Azerbaijan to the court of the Persian King of Kings . A Persian delegation headed by Seyed Ziaed-Din Tabatai came to Baku, to negotiate transit, tarriff, mail, customs, and other such agreements. Speeches were made in which the common bonds between Caucasian Azerbaijan and Iran were stressed .
In 1920, the Soviet Union (USSR) conquered the Caucasus and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic became Azerbaijan SSR. Relations between Iran and Azerbaijan then merged into Iran-USSR relations. However after World War II, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs could issue limited visas for travel to Iran only and Iran also maintained a consulate in Baku.
Relations from 1991 to present
Relations between Iran and the newly independent Republic of Azerbaijan did not get off to a good start. The president of Azerbaijan at the time, Abulfaz Elcibey, endorsed the unification of the Azerbaijani populations of his country and northern Iran and, to that end, autonomy for the Iranian Azerbaijanis, a stance which alienated the Iranian government.
Since then however, the two nations have had relatively good relations, although tensions have sometimes been high, cooperating in many different areas including trade, security, and the energy sector. However, some tensions include the growing relationship between the United States, Israel, and Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea territorial issues, and Irans support for Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan had said that he did not support a United States attack against Iran. Novruz Mamedov, Azerbaijani presidential international affairs department head in 2005, has also said that Azerbaijan would not allow the United States to build bases within Azerbaijani territory and would not help in an attack against Iran.
In March 2006 during the World Congress of Azerbaijanis convened in Baku a number of participants addressed both the concept of a "unified Azerbaijan" and human rights abuses against Azeris in Iran. A diplomatic controversy erupted when Iran's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Afshar Suleymani, as Azeri himself, expressed indignation concerning the views of some speakers who advocated the union of "southern" and "northern" Azerbaijan.
According to Karl Rahder, "Most analysts agree that the Iranian government has attempted to infiltrate Azerbaijan with agents and fifth column sleeper cells to weaken Azerbaijan from within for many years."
Nevertheless, the relations between the two republics are developing. On February 3, 2007 Azerbaijan’s minister of communications and information technology, Ali Abbasov, and the head of the Iranian State Broadcasting Agency, Ezzatollah Zarghami, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral media cooperation. Previously, Azerbaijan urged Iran to cease its "broadcasting and unauthorized transmission of Iranian Sahar-2 television into Azerbaijan" and "criticized the Azeri-language broadcasts beamed into southern Azerbaijan for containing "anti-Azerbaijani propaganda" aimed at destabilizing the southern regions of the country, and faulted the Iranian government for "interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs. Iranian officials have claimed that the broadcasts are beyond their control, as Sahar-2 is a privately owned station and merely expresses "its own position" in its programs"
On the 12th of April 2007, Azerbaijan handed Hadi Sid Javad Musavi, an Iranian citizen affiliated with the Southern Azerbaijan National Awakening Movement, to the Iranian authorities.
References
- Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995. pg 69
- "Внешняя политика контрреволюционных правительств в начале 1919-го года", Красный Архив, No. 6 (37), 1929, p. 94.
- Kazemzadeh, Firuz. "The Struggle for Transcaucasia: 1917-1921", The New York Philosophical Library, 1951, p. 229.
- ^ Foreign Relations of Azerbaijan
- Karl Rahder. The Southern Azerbaijan problem, ISN Security Watch, 19/04/07
- AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER URGES IRAN TO END BROADCASTS INTO SOUTHERN AZERBAIJAN, Radio Free Liberty, 2003-10-27