Caviar for loyalty. How Azerbaijan Bribes Western Politicians

Ilham Aliyev’s regime does not skimp on gifts to support its image.

The other day in the US state of Utah was the conference “The Role of the United States of America in the World”, on which, among other things, relations with Azerbaijan were discussed. The organizer of the event, Congressman Chris Stewart said that his country should “understand the strategic importance” of the transcaucasian republic. Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov, who was present, called Baku an ally of Washington in the fight against international terrorism and in matters of energy security. Complementary speeches, however, were preceded by a scandal, against which Washington’s relations with Baku appeared in a slightly different light.

A few days before, the USA published materials on the investigation of the visit of a group of congressmen in Baku, held in May 2013. A conference called “The US-Azerbaijan Meeting: A look into the future” was held there. 11 members of the House of Representatives, Congress staff in the number of several dozen people and also delegates from different US states – totally more than three hundred people arrived there.

The guests were paid for transportation expenses (only for the congressmen flight, some of which arrived with their spouses, more than $ 100,000 was spent) and hotel accommodation. Americans also received gifts: carpets of different sizes and values (some were simply left in their hotel rooms), crystal services and other things.

Formally, such trips are allowed, but the law restricts congressmen in accepting gifts from foreign countries – for example, obliging them to report in cases where the value of the gift exceeded a certain amount – in 2013, as noted, it was $ 350. In this case, only one of the congressmen, according to the report, filled out the necessary forms and submitted them to the parliamentary Ethics Committee. At the same time, only the carpets delivered to the guests, according to available information, cost several thousand dollars, one of them was estimated at $ 10 thousand.

The organizers of the trip were several NGOs, but during the investigation it was conducted by representatives of an independent organization that controls compliance with ethics by congressmen. It turned out that the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) was the key sponsor. For representation expenses, according to the report, she transferred $ 750,000 to one of the organizers – the Assembly of Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ).

SOCAR itself later stated that it did not conceal its involvement in the conference. The blame for the fact that the guests could not know about it, it shifted to the organizers. Congressmen eventually were not punished for  violation of ethics: the parliamentary committee decided that they simply did not know that their trip was financed by the state structure.

The story with carpets reminded of “caviar diplomacy” – a phenomenon described in the report of the European Stability Institute several years ago. Its authors claimed that the “friends of Azerbaijan” in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe periodically receive a gift of caviar – about half a kilogram in each session. For some foreign politicians, as Azeri sources ESI noted, this was just the beginning. They were regularly invited to Azerbaijan – for a conference, other events, sometimes for summer vacations. And during these trips they also received gifts: carpets, gold and silver items, alcohol, caviar and just money.

It should, however, admit that the report lacked evidence. If the authors had concrete evidence of how some politicians received caviar or carpets (and how their gratitude manifested itself), then it was not included in the text.

“[Caviar diplomacy] includes a systematic approach to finding friends,- the author of the report, Gerald Knaus, stated. – Every year dozens of PACE members are invited to Baku by pro-government NGOs or directly by the government. This includes a lot of very aggressive lobbying, promises, and then – job offers … to people who previously held very important positions in the Council of Europe in order to send a clear message: if you are on our side, you can become a well-paid lobbyist”.

In the report was mentioned, in particular, the former PACE deputy Eduard Lintner, who was included in the observation mission at the referendum held in Azerbaijan in 2009, when, a rule, allowing the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to be reelected an unlimited number of times, was passed . Shortly before the referendum, the PACE president, Louis Maria de Puig, expressed concern about “the future of Azerbaijani democracy”. However, the delegation’s conclusion was sustained in a different tone: it stated that the voting was transparent, and its result “showed the desire of the Azerbaijani people for greater stability.” As for Lintner, he left PACE shortly thereafter and headed the Society for the Promotion of German-Azerbaijani Relations, which was named in the ESI report as one of the Azerbaijani lobby groups.

Only for lobbying in the USA Azerbaijan spends millions of dollars. According to Radio Liberty, if in the mid-1990s these expenditures were measured by several tens of thousands of dollars a year, in the early 2000s they amounted several hundred thousand dollars, and in 2007 – more than $ 1 million.

In 2013, according to US sources, Azerbaijan was among the ten foreign countries that spent most of their money on lobbying services in the United States. Although in comparison with the leaders of the rating, expenses of Azerbaijan, which took the 10th place, were not so great – about $ 2.2 million. The countries from the first three spent more: United Arab Emirates – $ 14.1 million, Germany – $ 12 million, Canada – $ 11.2 million. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan ceded to Georgia – it was on the ninth place with $ 2.3 million. Although, its budget in 2013 was several times less than Azerbaijan’s.

The report of the US Department of Justice for the first half of 2014 (we are talking about data collected under the law on foreign agents) mentions seven organizations acting in the interests of Baku, including the lobbying firm “Podesta Group”. Among its tasks are consultations, contacts with members of Congress, officials, journalists and NGO representatives. The firm’s services for this period are estimated at $ 266,000. For comparison: in the section devoted to the United Arab Emirates, 11 organizations were mentioned. About $ 8.5 million was spent on their services for half a year.

The successful work of the lobbyists was connected, particularly, with the meeting of Ilham Aliyev with George Bush Jr. (when he was the last president), as well as, the failure of the Congress resolution demanding the release of the former Azerbaijani minister Farhad Aliyev and his brother Rafig arrested in 2005 (Before the parliamentary elections) on charges of preparing a coup. According to American sources, because of this resolution representatives of the lobbying firm acting in the interests of Baku, contacted the representatives of the Congress dozens of times. As a result, it was not accepted.

Lobbying services are used to achieve economic (the conference in 2013 was linked, particularly, with the promotion of energy projects involving Azerbaijan) and political goals (among other things, within the confrontation with Armenia, which has a large diaspora and significant lobbying resources in the US). But also to contain criticism regarding the human rights situation in Azerbaijan.

This criticism falls into the reports of the US State Department (it mentions the restriction of freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, the persecution of the opposition and illegal arrests), sounds in the statements of the European Parliament and representatives of the United Nations. Baku responds to this by return accusations – in defaming Azerbaijan and double standards. According to WikiLeaks, this topic was discussed at one of the meetings of Ilham Aliyev with a representative of the US State Department. The Azerbaijani president is credited with such words as “We do not want to be considered an authoritarian state”, “I was called a predator of the press – it’s not fair” and “I’m your ally – why do you support those who oppose me? “.

Lobbyists – included in such structures as the PACE – can serve as a guarantee that comments on human rights will not go into sanctions. And for their praise (at a conference in 2013, one of the congressmen called Azerbaijan “a shining beacon of democracy”) the government also finds some application within the country. For government, this means additional confirmation of its legitimacy. As the oppositional Azerbaijani activist Emin Milli put it, “if a congressman says something good about Aliyev or his regime,” then in Azerbaijan it will be shown on TV dozens of times a day.

Mikhail Tishchenko The Editor of the Republic