Why White House woos Azerbaijan

[TexasLawyer]

Just looking at the map tells you most of what you need to know.



http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0428/p04s01-wosc.html

April 28, 2006 edition

Why White House woos Azerbaijan

President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Washington Friday comes as
the country's oil and geography make it increasingly important.

By Brendan Hoffman | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – In the boxing ring of international diplomacy and influence, Azerbaijan punches above its weight. Coming at the White House's invitation, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev will meet Friday with top administration officials - including President Bush - in his first official visit to the US since taking office in a widely criticized election in October 2003

The visit, analysts say, is part of a broader effort by the Bush administration to gain support in a key region in the face of a growing confrontation with Iran, particularly from Muslim countries. But Azerbaijan's history of corruption and its poor human rights record have raised eyebrows about strengthening ties with the Central Asian country, and many point to oil as another driving factor in the relationship.

The visit is "a little anomalous," admits Cory Welt, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, though he adds that there are "a number of reasons why Azerbaijan is of particular interest to the US now."

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The US vocally criticized its elections last fall, one in a string of polls held since gaining independence from the Soviets in 1991 that have not met international standards. According to Transparency International, an anticorruption watchdog group, Azerbaijan is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. And human rights groups like Amnesty International have criticized forceful responses to political protests and politically motivated arrests. This week, Human Rights Watch called on President Bush to push for concrete improvements to Azerbaijan's human rights record.

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