By
Harut Sassounian
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Le 27 janvier, la chaîne de télévision internationale israélienne, i24NEWS, a diffusé un programme d’une demi-heure rempli de mensonges pour glorifier les relations de l’Azerbaïdjan avec Israël et diffamer l’Arménie, l’Iran et la Russie. Ce programme scandaleux n’avait rien à voir avec le journalisme, mais tout à voir avec la fameuse diplomatie du caviar de l’Azerbaïdjan.
On
January 27, Israel’s international TV station, i24NEWS, aired a half-hour
program full of falsehoods to glorify Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel and vilify
Armenia, Iran and Russia. This scandalous program had nothing to do with
journalism, and everything to do with Azerbaijan’s notorious ‘caviar
diplomacy.’
Here
are excerpts from the TV program which I have transcribed. My comments are in
brackets:
The
narrator, Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman, said: “Azerbaijan has
problematic neighbors, especially Vladimir Putin’s Russia in the North and
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Iran in the South. Yet, its main historical enemy is
another neighbor, Armenia, a country with a Christian majority that has clashed
with Azerbaijan in two major wars, causing thousands of victims. In the first
war of Nagorno-Karabagh in 1991, Armenia, backed by Russia, [first lie] managed
to conquer 10,000 square kilometers in the border zone, a region the size of
Lebanon. The official objective was to create a buffer zone. For Azerbaijan,
2020 was the year of victory in the second Karabagh war. Pres. Ilham Aliyev’s
army reconquered all areas [second lie] occupied by the Armenians only to find
dozens of villages and small towns completely destroyed and booby-trapped.
[Third lie]. Such was the case in Khodaafarin area, just a few meters from the
Iranian border on the banks of Arax River. In this scenario, Iran supported
Armenia [fourth lie] and Israel supported Azerbaijan.”
The
reporter interviewed Mubarak Qurbanli, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Religious
Affairs, who said: “Armenia seized our lands. [Fifth lie]. It took a huge
heroic effort for our army to win them back in the last war. The Azerbaijani
people know that during this war, Iran was on the side of Armenia. [Sixth lie].
So you can understand these unpleasant feelings, not towards the people, but
towards the Iranian regime.... Iran reproaches Israel it seems from the point
of view of Orthodox Islam. But, where was Iran for 30 years when Armenia, violating
all international laws [seventh lie], occupied Azerbaijani lands, including the
Iranian border. Why did Iran remain silent then?” [Eighth lie].
The
narrator continued: “The ceasefire was finally achieved by Vladimir Putin. At
the liberation celebration in Baku, the army viewed the offensive drones it had
acquired from Israel and which caused many casualties among Armenian forces
[shameful boast about killing Armenians]. One of the strong men in the Baku
government is Hikmet Hajiyev, Pres. Aliyev’s top advisor and his foreign policy
strategist. He claims that Israel is one of the first countries that recognized
Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991 and delivered news that angered Tehran.”
Hajiyev said: “The President of Azerbaijan and National Parliament made a
decision to open a full-fledged Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the
State of Israel, and with the opening of the Azerbaijan Embassy in Israel we
will be able to manage to bring to a quantitatively new level the
Israel-Azerbaijan strategic partnership.” [Hajiyev did not mention that due to
Pres. Aliyev’s fear of a backlash from Islamic States, Azerbaijan opened an Embassy
in Tel Aviv only in 2022 -- almost 30 years after Israel opened its Embassy in
Baku in 1993. And then, to soften the negative reaction of Islamic states,
Azerbaijan opened a representative office in Ramallah, the West Bank].
The
reporter then added: “The closer the strategic relation between Baku and
Jerusalem is, the more Tehran threatens both countries. In a video broadcast by
the Islamic Republic of Iran, it clearly defined that the path to the Holy
Mosque of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem passes through the capital of Azerbaijan. It is
the first time that Tehran has threatened the two countries, saying ‘you are
digging your graves. Anyone who defies Iran will be destroyed.’ Tehran also
attacks Israel’s new Arab partners that support the Abraham Accords: the United
Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and even Saudi Arabia.... This is one of the
most explosive borders in the world. On this side, we are in Azerbaijan which
is a secular Muslim country, a strategic ally of Israel, and there we can see
the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran which defines the U.S. and Israel as
‘the big Satan and the little Satan.’ According to Iran, the road through
Jerusalem passes through Baku, the Capital of Azerbaijan. In October 2022, the
Iranian army decided to launch an act of intimidation against Azerbaijan
accusing its Northern neighbor of being agents of Israel. Thousands of Iranian
soldiers crossed the Arax River on the border between the two states with
tanks, planes, helicopters and military trucks. The Iranian army also dropped
hundreds of paratroopers over the border area. There were dozens of videos of
military maneuvers which showed time and time again, the target of their
missiles: The Jewish State’s Star of David. Tehran points to the growing ties
between Baku and Jerusalem.” Then a video is shown of an Iranian General
saying: “We are turning at the crossing of the Arax River on the border with
Azerbaijan so that they will take us seriously. We do not accept the presence
of Zionists next door.”
The
i24NEWS program continued: “Many of the military drills took place on the
Iranian side of the river, but at times, there were air and ground
infiltrations within Azerbaijani territory. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev
responded to Iranian Generals with a tweet that enraged Tehran: A photo of the
leader of Azerbaijan embracing the Israeli Harop type kamikaze drone.
Azerbaijan bought the SkyStriker and LORA drones from Israeli companies Elbit and
Israel Aerospace Industries.”
The
journalist then interviewed Efraim Sneh, a former Israeli Minister, who is
described as “the architect of the alliance between Israel and Azerbaijan.” He
said: “I recognized the importance of friendly Azerbaijan, given its very close
proximity to Iran and the fact that a big part of Iran is Azeri. [Ninth lie]. I
thought this is a case for us to establish a strong, sound bridge between
Israel and Azerbaijan.... The Azeri people took a major role in the combat
against Nazi Germany. Hundreds of thousands of Azeris who went to the war
against Hitler during the ‘Great Patriotic War,’ didn’t return home. They fell
in the battlefield in Europe and Germany. And this is something that a Jew can
never forget. We remain always grateful for the contribution of Azerbaijan to
the defeat of the Nazis.” [Tenth lie. The Israeli Minister seems unaware that
fighting for Nazi Germany were 70,000 Azeris who participated in the
suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. Hitler called these Azeris his reliable allies].
The
narrator continued: “During our journey along the 700-kilometer border, we saw
other Israeli technologies being used to surveil the Iranian side, for example,
high-precision cameras and very sophisticated electronic sensors. According to
several sources, these systems support operations conducted by special units
and Israeli secret agents who infiltrate Iran to fight against its nuclear
projects. It’s a delicate surgical fight, according to the international press.
Israel permanently maintains pilots of its Air Force in Azerbaijan as well as
several [U.S.] F-35 fighter jets, the fifth generation of combat aircraft
considered to be the most sophisticated on the planet. Following the Iranian
drills, an F-35 apparently infiltrated Iranian airspace to assess the
efficiency of its anti-aircraft system.” [If true, this is a clear admission
that Israel has violated its agreement with the U.S. not to transfer the F-35’s
to another country].
[Part
1: To be continued next week]
