From: "George Sherwood" 

On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:34:36 -0400, Rich Gauszka wrote:

> "George Sherwood"  wrote in message
> news:ea8sq3xp0t.ln2{at}athlon.p3pilot.gotdns.org...
>> Adam maybe be the only interested, but here are a couple articles on
>> Azerbaijan.  Actually two stories really about one Canadian's trip
>> here.  Not too bad, but so far he has really only gotten on side of the
>> story here.
>>
>> George
>>
>> http://www.herald.ns.ca/NovaScotian/518912.html
>>
>> http://www.balkanalysis.com/2006/08/09/interview-scott-taylor-on-the-rise-of
-azerbaijan/
>
> Iteresting - from the last article - that and the number of Kirds in Iran
> could make power politics in the region *interesting*
>
> ST: The Iran issue is the most pressing one, in that approximately 17
> million ethnic Azeris live inside the Iranian border. The territory of
> Azerbaijan was originally divided by Tsarist Russia and Persia back in 1828.
> The 8.5 million Azeris residing in the independent former Soviet Republic
> are just the tip of a big iceberg. I have been told that the CIA is hoping
> to use Azerbaijan's newfound prosperity and freedoms to incite Azeri
> nationalism south of their border. Constituting one-third of Iran's
> population, any separatist movement on the part of the Azeris would deeply
> destabilize the Tehran regime. Not that America ever plays such games, of
> course.
>

Not sure America will even need to play any games there.  The uprisings a
month or so ago in Northern Iran came after an Iranian newspaper printed a
cartoon of a cockroach speaking Azerbaijani.  Guess the way the Persians
think about the ethnic Azeris there.  The Iranians closed the newspaper and
such, but much damage done both here and in Northern Iran. That region of
Iran is often referred to here as Southern Azerbaijan.

George

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