The South Caucasus Republics and Israel
2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00263200802697415
ISSN1743-7881
Autores Tópico(s)Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics
ResumoAbstract With the breakup of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, three republics in the South Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) achieved independence for the second time during the twentieth century. Their first experience was contentious and short-lived, had little or no support from the Western powers and was brought to end by the newly formed Soviet Union with the tacit approval of Turkey. While Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani national aspirations were quashed in the early post-First World War era, Zionism was given encouragement with the establishment of the Palestine Mandate. When Israel was established it was given immediate recognition by the Soviet Union, but most Jews from Georgia and Azerbaijan – Armenia's population was very small in comparison – only made their way to Israel during the last years of the Cold War. On the other hand, following the Second World War, some members of the Armenian Diaspora, including those in the Arab world, immigrated to the Soviet Union. While Soviet-Israeli relations had been strained since the Six-Day War, the end of the Cold War not only brought better ties between Russia and Israel, but it allowed Israel to establish relations with the other successor states of the former Soviet Union. Many of those countries sought ties with Israel (and the other Western states) to insure their continued independence from Russia, while, at the same time, Arab-Israeli relations improved and Turkey and Israel drew closer together. Iran was regarded with suspicion by Azerbaijan and along with Georgia, which wanted to enhance its ties with the West, drew closer to Turkey. Both countries have benefited from the transport of oil. Jews from Georgia and Azerbaijan have kept close connections with their former countries, where anti-Semitism was never the problem it was in Russia. Armenia has remained the closest to Russia with its conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh and its distrust of Georgia. However, Armenians experienced genocide at the hands of the Ottomans and have sought support from Israel over that issue. Notes 1. J. Abadi, Israel's Quest for Recognition and Acceptance in Asia: Garrison State Diplomacy (London: Frank Cass, 2004), pp.xi–xii. 2. In addition to ibid., see M.B. Bishku, 'Israel and Ethiopia: From a Special to a Pragmatic Relationship, Conflict Quarterly, Vol.14, No.2 (Spring 1994), pp.39–62. 3. National Security Concept of Georgia, no date given, but was drawn up sometime after 30 May 2005 (a date mentioned in the document referring to a joint declaration of the Foreign Ministers of Georgia and Russia designed to normalize bilateral relations), pp.8–9 in HMTL format. Available at http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?sec_id=24&lang_id=ENG (accessed 16 Feb. 2008). 4. Speech by H.E. Mr. Armen Baibourtian, Tokyo, 31 Oct. 2007. Available at www.armeniaforeignministry.com/speeches/071031_baib.hmtl (accessed 16 Feb. 2008). 5. National Security Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Approved by Instruction No. 2198 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 23 May 2007, p.3. Available at www.mfa.gov.az/ssi_eng/foreign_policy/inter_affairs/nsc/NSC.pdf (16 Feb. 2008). 6. A.L. Altstadt, The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity under Russian Rule (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1992), p.xvix. 7. At the same meeting in Bucharest, Romania, NATO also rejected Ukraine's application for membership, while Greece blocked Macedonia's in a dispute over that country's name; Croatia and Albania were invited to join the military alliance. (Augusta Chronicle, 3 April 2007, p.6A.) 8. National Security Concept of Georgia, pp.2–3, 12. 9. National Security Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan, p.5. 10. National Security Concept of Georgia, pp.10–12. 11. National Security Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan, pp.12–14. 12. Ibid., p.12; and National Security Concept of Georgia, p.2. 13. Speech by Baibourtian, 31 Oct. 2007. 14. G. Bournoutian, 'Eastern Armenia from the Sixteenth Century to the Russian Annexation', in R.G. Hovannisian (ed.), Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Vol.2 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004), p.81. 15. N. Garsoïan, 'The Arab Invasions and the Rise of the Bagratuni (640–884)', in R.G. Hovannisian (ed.), Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Vol.1 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004), p.136. 16. D.M. Lang, A Modern History of Soviet Georgia (New York: Grove Press, 1962), p.28. 17. C. King, The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp.30–31. 18. M. Atkin, Russia and Iran, 1780–1828 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1980), p.157. 19. S. Goldenberg, Pride of Small Nations: The Caucasus and Post-Soviet Disorder (London: Zed Books, 1994), p.26. 20. L. Nalbandian, The Armenian Revolutionary Movement (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), p.169. 21. T. Akçam, A Shameful Act: the Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006), pp.12–13, 183. 22. Quoted in F. Kazemzadeh, 'Russian Penetration of the Caucasus', in T. Hunczak (ed.), Russian Imperialism from Ivan the Great to the Revolution (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1974), p.254. 23. R.G. Suny, The Making of the Georgian Nation (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994), p.84. 24. S.F. Jones, Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883–1917 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005), p.4. 25. T. Swietochowski, Russian Azerbaijan, 1905–1920: The Shaping of National Identity in the Muslim Community (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp.11–12. 26. R.D. Crews, For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006), p.19. 27. C.J. Walker, Armenia: The Survival of a Nation (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980), p.56. 28. Georgia's Social Democratic Party was an offshoot of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party, which split into Bolshevik and Menshevik branches in 1903; the later favoured a more gradualist constitutional path to power. 29. R.G. Suny, 'Eastern Armenians under Tsarist Rule', in Hovannisian (ed.), Armenian People, Vol.2, p.112. 30. T. Swietochowski, 'National Consciousness and Political Orientations in Azerbaijan, 1905–1920', in R.G. Suny (ed.), Transcaucasia, Nationalism, and Social Change (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996), pp.214–15. 31. C. van der Leeuw, Azerbaijan: A Quest for Identity (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000), pp.106–7; and Swietochowski, Russian Azerbaijan, pp.73–5. 32. Swietochowski, Russian Azerbaijan, p.110. 33. R.G. Hovannisian, 'Armenia's Road to Independence', in Hovannisian (ed.), Armenian People, Vol.2, p.289. The Seim also consisted of 22 other deputies representing seven parties. 34. R.G. Suny, The Baku Commune, 1917–1918 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1972), pp.220, 231. 35. F. Kazemzadeh, The Struggle for Transcaucasia, 1917–1921 (Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1981), pp.90–91. 36. B.G. Fragner, '"Soviet Nationalism": An Ideological Legacy to the Independent Republics of Central Asia', in W. van Schendel and E.J. Zürcher (eds.), Identity Politics in Central Asia and the Muslim World (London: I.B. Tauris, 2001), pp.19–23. 37. Georgian and Armenian were recognized as official languages in 1938, while the Azeri received the same status in 1956. 38. T. Swietochowski, Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), pp.112–15, 128; and Altstadt, Azerbaijani Turks, p.124. In 1993, independent Azerbaijan adopted Latin script for the Azeri alphabet. 39. King, Ghost of Freedom, p.186. 40. L. L'Estrange Fawcett, Iran and the Cold War: The Azerbaijan Crisis of 1946 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p.178. Iranian forces retook Azerbaijan in December 1946. 41. Goldenberg, Pride of Small Nations, pp.42–3. 42. R.D. Kaplan, Eastward to Tartary (New York: Vintage Books, 2000), p.314. 43. Ibid., pp.313, 316–17. 44. 'Appeal to Turkey to Stop Massacres', New York Times, 28 April 1915, as cited in R. Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), p.326. 45. H. Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau's Story (New York: Doubleday and Page, 1918), p.321, as quoted in Y. Auron, The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2003), p.8. 46. F. Werfel, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2002), pp.ix, xi–xii. 47. Auron, Banality of Denial, pp.124, 297–9, 311–14. 48. Quoted in Fisk, Great War for Civilisation, p.347. 49. Quoted in Auron, Banality of Denial, p.129. 50. R. Giragosian, 'Nagorno-Karbakh: International Political Dimensions', in L. Chorbajian (ed.), The Making of Nagorno-Karabakh: From Secession to Republic (New York: Palgrave, 2001), p.245. 51. Quoted in G. Novikova, 'Armenia and the Middle East', Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol.4, No.4 (Dec. 2000), p.65. Available at http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a6.hmtl (accessed 11 Feb. 2008). 52. Howard M. Sachar, Israel and Europe: An Appraisal in History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999), p.334. 53. The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Ant-Semitism and Racism, Tel Aviv University, Report on Transcaucasia and Central Asia for 2005, pp. 1–2. Available at http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2005/transcaucasia.htm (accessed 13 Mar. 2008). 54. United Nations, Department of Public Information, News and Media Division. Available at http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/ga10693.doc.htm (accessed 18 Mar. 2008). 55. Figures from Arthur Hagopian, 'Armenians in Israel', Jerusalem Letters of Lasting Interest, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2 July 1986, pp.1–3. Available at http://www.jcpa.org/jl/hit04.htm (13 Mar. 2008). 56. Figures from R.H. Dekmjian, 'The Armenian Diaspora', in Hovannisian (ed.), Armenian People, Vol.2, pp.421–6. Higher population figures are given on the website http://www.armeniadiaspora.com (accessed 13 Mar. 2008). 57. R.G. Suny, 'Soviet Armenia', in Hovannisian (ed.), Armenian People, Vol.2, pp.367–8. 58. R.G. Suny, 'Elite Transformation in Late-Soviet and Post-Soviet Transcaucasia, or What Happens When the Ruling Class Can't Rule?', in T.J. Colton and R.C. Tucker (eds.), Patterns in Post-Soviet Leadership (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995), p.146. 59. Introduction to Economy Reports. Available at http://www.armeniaforeignministry.com/arm/economy/main.html (accessed 16 Feb. 2008). The website also includes Iran, Russia, Italy, Germany, France, the US and the UAE for imports and the EU, Russia, Iran and the US for exports. 60. US Central Intelligence Agency, 'Armenia', The World Factbook, 2008. Available at http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/am.html (accessed 10 Feb. 2008). Iran received a smaller amount of Armenia's exports (4.9%) than Israel, behind the US. (6.1%) and Georgia (5.1%), but accounted for a larger amount of Armenia's imports (5.7%). Israel was the fifth largest export market for Armenian goods – behind Germany (18.3%), the Netherlands (14.1%), Belgium (13.3%), and Russia (13.1%) – while in imports to Armenia it ranked eighth – behind Russia (21.8%), Ukraine (7.8%), Belgium (7.6%), Turkmenistan (7.1%), Italy (6.1%), and Germany (5.7%); the U.S. was ninth at 4.5% and Georgia was tenth at 4.1%. 61. National Conference on Soviet Jewry, 'Armenia Country Page', p.5. Available at http://www.ncsj.org/Armenia.shtml (accessed 2 Feb. 2008). 62. Russia's Aeroflot, Syrian Air and Caspian Airlines, an Iranian carrier, among others, serve Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport. See the website: http://www.armeniainfo.am/travel. 63. These comments are quoted in Sami Rosen, 'Armenia and Israel Throw Down a Gage to Iran and Turkey', Axis Information and Analysis, 20 Jan. 2006. Available at http://www.axisglobe.com/print_article.asp?article=606 (accessed 21 Mar. 2008). 64. See the website: http://www.mfa.gov.il. 65. S. Laciner, 'Armenia's Jewish Scepticism and Its Impact on Armenia-Israel Relations', Journal of Turkish Weekly, 11 Oct. 2004. Available at http://www.turkishweekly.net/printer-friendly/printerfriendly.php?type=articles&id=3 (accessed 16 Feb. 2008). Rivka Cohen, Israel's Ambassador to Georgia, told the Armenian news agency Miramax on 15 Feb. 2002 that 'Iran–Armenia political and military cooperation' was 'a key reason for weak relations'. 66. S. Çağaptay and A. Murinson, 'Good Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel: A Model for Other Muslim States in Eurasia?', Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch, No.982, 30 March 2005, p.1. Available at http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/print.php?template=C05&CID=2287 (accessed 17 Feb. 2008). 67. I. Bourtman, 'Israel and Azerbaijan's Furtive Embrace', Middle East Quarterly, Vol.13, No.3 (Summer 2006). Available at http://www.mwforum.org/pf.php?id=987 (accessed 16 Feb. 2008). 68. Çağaptay and Murinson, 'Good Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel'. 69. E. Ya'ari, 'A Luxury We Can't Afford', The Jerusalem Report, 17 June 1993, p.28. 70. J. Hunter, 'Arms for Azerbaijan?', Middle East International, No.436, 23 Oct. 1992, pp.12–13. 71. G. Lerner, 'Azeri Jews: Centuries of Coexistence in Azerbaijan', Jewish Journal.com, 11 Jan. 2008, pp.2–3 Available at http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/print.php?id=18754 (accessed 13 Mar. 2008). 72. H. Pope, 'The Front wins through', Middle East International, No.427, 12 June 1992, p.13; and D. Sneider, 'Azeri Leader Aims for Moderation', Christian Science Monitor, 30 Nov. 1992, p.2. 73. Ya'ari, 'Luxury We Can't Afford'. 74. Bourtman, 'Israel and Azerbaijan's Furtive Embrace', p.7. 75. S.T. Hunter, The Transcaucasus in Transition: Nation-Building and Conflict (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1994), pp.51–2. 76. H. Shanks and S.F. Singer, 'Oil and Jews on the Silk Road', Moment, Vol.23, No.5 (Oct. 1998), p.72. 77. Çağaptay and Murinson, 'Good Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel', p.2. 78. Quoted in B. Aras, 'Post-Cold War Realities: Israel's Strategy in Azerbaijan and Central Asia', Middle East Policy, Vol.5, No.4 (Jan. 1998), p.74. 79. Quoted in ibid. 80. Çağaptay and Murinson, 'Good Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel', p.2. 81. 'Backgrounder: Islam in Azerbaijan', BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 30 Oct. 2007. Available at http://www. lexisnexis.com/us/Inacademic/frame.do?tokenKey=rsh-20.799473.6939161079 (accessed 8 Feb. 2008). 82. Organization of the Islamic Conference website. Available at http://www.oic-oci.org/oicnew/member_states.asp (accessed 18 Mar. 2008). The OIC includes 57 member states, among which are Iran and the Arab countries, and a number of official observers, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, and the Turkish Cypriot state. 83. Economic Cooperation Organization website. Available at http://www.ecosecretariat.org/Detail_info/About_ECO_D.htm (accessed 20 Mar. 2008). The group is a successor organization of Regional Cooperation for Development that existed from 1964–79 with three members: Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. 84. Non-Aligned Movement website. Available at http://www.nam.gov.za/background/members.htm (accessed 1 May. 2008). The website has not been updated in a few years. Malta and Cyprus quit the NAM when they joined the European Union. Azerbaijan's Central Asia neighbours Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are members. 85. Axis Information and Analysis, 28 Jan. 2006. Available at http://www.axixglobe.com/print_news.asp?news=7088 (accessed 30 Apr. 2008). 86. US Central Intelligence Agency, 'Azerbaijan', The World Factbook, 2008. Available at http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aj.html (accessed 10 Feb. 2008). Following Israel in terms of percentages of Azerbaijan's exports were Turkey (6.1%), France (5.5%), Russia (5.4%), Iran (4.6%), and Georgia (4.5%). Following Russia in terms of imports to Azerbaijan were Great Britain (8.6%), Germany (7.7%), Turkey (7.3%), Turkmenistan (7%), Ukraine (6%), and China (4.2%). Israel's percentage in terms of imports to Azerbaijan is not given, but two years earlier (2004), according to Azerbaijan's State Statistical Committee it was 0.1%; this information was accessed at: http://www.azstat.org/publications/azfigures/2005/en/018_3.shtml. 87. Bourtman, 'Israel and Azerbaijan's Furtive Embrace', p.3; and Çağaptay and Murinson, 'Good Relations between Azerbaijan and Israel', p.2. 88. See the website: http://www.azal.com. Baku's Heydar Aliyev International Airport is the busiest in the Caucasus and is served by Turkish Airlines, Iranair, and Russia's Aeroflot, among others. 89. This body of 47 states, which excludes Kosovo, but includes Turkey and all the European republics in the former Soviet Union except Belarus, was established in 1949 to promote human rights and pluralist democracy on the continent. See the website: http://www.coe.int. 90. C.J. Chivers, 'Russia Expands Support for Breakaway Regions in Georgia', New York Times, 17 April 2008. 91. Sachar, Israel and Europe, p.334. 92. The agreement on scientific cooperation also included the fields of education and culture. While listed, the text is unavailable on the Israeli Foreign Ministry website. 93. S. Krasikov, 'Declassified KGB Study Illuminates Early Years of Soviet Jewish Emigration', Forward (New York), 14 Dec. 2007. 94. Embassy of Georgia to the United States of America, Canada and Mexico, 'Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Irakli Menagarishvili Visits Israel'. Available at http://www.georgiaemb.org/Print.asp?id=236 (accessed 2 Feb. 2008). 95. US Central Intelligence Agency, 'Georgia', The World Factbook, 2008. Available at http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gg.hmtl (accessed 10 Feb. 2008). Following Germany in terms of percentages of imports to Georgia were Russia (14.2%), Turkey (9.5%) and Ukraine (8.7%), while following Belgium in terms of percentages exports coming from Georgia were Turkey (9.4%, Azerbaijan (7.7%), Russia (7.5%), Armenia (7.5%), Turkmenistan (6.4%), Bulgaria (6%), the U.S. (5.8%), Ukraine (5%), and Canada (4.6%). 96. Greer Fay Cashman, 'Georgian Investments Pique Israelis' Interest', Jerusalem Post, 16 May 2007, p.19. 97. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, 'Relations between Georgia and State of Israel'. Available at http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?sec_id=379&lang_id=ENG (accessed 16 Feb. 2008). 98. Regarding Georgia's regulations, Iranians get only 30 days visa-free, while Armenians and Azerbaijanis can have unlimited stays in the country. As for Armenia's regulations, it requires no visas for Georgians, Azerbaijanis, and Russians, but Israelis are required to get one good up to 120 days. Azerbaijan requires visas for all foreigners. 99. See the website: http://www.airzena.com. 100. See the website: http://www.mfa.gov.il. That site also lists and provides the text of an agreement of mutual assistance in customs matters signed in September 1998, while Georgian Foreign Ministry document cited in note 97, highlights a Memorandum of Understanding for the Establishment of Joint Bilateral Consultations between the two Foreign Ministries, with no date of signing given. 101. Abadi, Israel's Quest for Recognition, p.436. 102. Bourtman, 'Israel and Azerbaijan's Furtive Embrace', p.3. 103. 'Georgian President Visits, Expresses Solidarity with Israel', BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 2 Nov. 2006. Available at http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/Inacademic/frame.do?tokenKey=rsh-20.554826.2427410884 (accessed 18 Feb. 2008). 104. G.F. Cashman, 'Georgian Minister Sees Israel as an Economic Model', Jerusalem Post, 9 May 2007, p.18. 105. See M.B. Bishku, 'How Has Turkey Viewed Israel?', Israel Affairs, Vol.12, No.1 (Jan. 2006), pp.177–94. 106. 'Azeri Religious Communities Condemn Israel's Attack on Lebanon', BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 24 July 2006. Available at http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/Inacademic/freme.do?tokenKey=rsh-20.162795.7277501459 (accessed 8 Feb. 2008).
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