RUSSIA SEEN AS CHIEF THREAT TO AZERBAIJAN, REGION.

A reportby Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev’s foreign policy adviser,Vafa Gulizade, summarized in the August 9 Moskovskaya Pravda, describes Russia as a country that "has not yet renouncedexpansionist and imperial views and represents Azerbaijan’s mainadversary and largest obstacle on the road to full independence."Although Azerbaijan is the sole country in Transcaucasia and CentralAsia to have managed to free itself completely from Russian troops,the report says, the country remains vulnerable to Moscow’s abilityto play off regional states against one another and to manipulateeconomic links for political ends. According to the report, Moscow,in turn, views Azerbaijan as the main impediment to Russian controlof the region and is consequently cooperating with Iran to curtailAzerbaijan’s independence, and is also pressuring Azerbaijan throughArmenia. Gulizade’s report predicts that the Armenian-Azeri conflictwill be resolved only when Russia’s influence in the region willhave waned. Stressing that Azerbaijan resists Islamic fundamentalismand Iran’s attempts to spread it, the report makes the case fora more active US and West European role in the region to counterRussian and Iranian influence.

Azerbaijan Warned by Iran over Israel Links.