AZERBAIJAN: Israel denies it has access to Azerbaijan air bases

Record ID: 218181

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN: Israel denies it has access to Azerbaijan air bases
  • Date: 24th April 2012
  • Summary: BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (APRIL 23, 2012 (REUTERS) STREET SCENE
  • Embargoed: 9th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAN2QV0TORJTCT90Q6D29D8FD7
  • Story Text: Israel denied on Monday (April 23) that it had gained access to air bases in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, which borders its foe Iran.
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who arrived to mark 20 years of establishing relations with oil-rich Azerbaijan and to participate in opening of an Israeli Cultural Centre in the capital Baku, told reporters that "such reports were from the sphere of science fiction and did not correspond with the truth."
    There has been media speculation that Israel would seek to use Azerbaijan as a launch pad for potential attacks on Iran, and the U.S. journal Foreign Policy last month cited sources as saying the United States has concluded that Israel has recently been granted access to air bases on Iran's northern border.
    Azerbaijan's independent broadcaster ANS aired Lieberman's exclusive interview in its main news bulletin, where the foreign minister accused the world media of "purposeful leak of information aimed at discrediting our (Azerbaijani-Israeli) relations."
    Lieberman said in the interview that he thought "a part of journalist engaged in interpreting such issues and speculations had a very rich imagination and the other part had seen too many of James Bond films."
    Lieberman added that he discussed bilateral relations as well as the "issue of Iran" with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, but did not go into details.
    Azerbaijan, a mostly Shi'ite Muslim country with a secular government, is home to more than 9,000 Jews in a population of 9 million and has friendly ties with Israel as well as with the United States and Russia.
    A major energy producer, it exports oil to Israel and imports weapons and military hardware.
    Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, its much larger southern neighbour, have been tense in recent months.
    Iran has accused Azerbaijan of assisting Israeli intelligence in killings of Iranian nuclear scientists.
    Last month, security forces arrested several Azeris and Iranians on suspicion of spying for Iran, plotting to attack Western targets and smuggling arms from Iran into Azerbaijan.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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