Khataiyi-Azerbaijani Summit (ATTN:Qirmizi Azerbaycan)

[Khataiy]

OOC: This is a diplomatic thread between me and Qirmizi Azerbaycan, only official communiques and some journalist style posts are allowed otherwise this is a closed thread, PM/TG for further details

Antakya, Khataiy

The snow covered capital

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As the Azerbaijani delegation landed in Antakya's Al-Izz air base President Khairallah stood there wearing a traditional Arab farwa over his suit and stood on the runway surrounded by several soldiers, wearing olive uniforms, black berets and army issued Farwa's to be used on cold special occasions, standing at attention while the foreign minister stood next to him. As the Azerbaijani plane landed and the delegation unloaded unto the runway, the soldiers saluted and President Khairallah approached them extending his hand to shake his counter-part's hand. While on speakers set up near by Khataiy's patriotic song that usually played during special occasions was played, President Khairallah said while shaking hands "As-Alaykum Wa Rahtmatullahi wa Barakatu, (Peace and the Mercy of God and his blessings be upon you) welcome to the Arab State Khataiy, I am sure you are used to the snow where you are from."

After the formalities a black Mercedes-SUV drove up to pick them up and drive them to a luxury resort in the capital where a meeting room had been set up to accommodate to the summit.

[Qirmizi Azerbaycan]

Al-Izz air base
Antakya
Khaitay

The Airbus A319 descended through the cool, crisp skies over Khaitay, landing at Al-Izz air base as directed. The aircraft still bore the old colours of Azerbaijan Airlines, even though that company had ceased to exist nearly three years ago in the revolution, as the new regime simply hadn't bothered to change it. After all, it still served Azerbaijan, didn't it? As the aircraft came to a stop, the front door opened, and a man of Azeri ethnicity, dressed in a Zhongshan suit and a peaked officers cap disembarked, followed by a trio of uniformed soldiers, adorned with the emblem of the Internal Security Troops, the paramilitary arm of the Commissariat of Internal Security.

The man accepted President Khairallah's handshake, smiling at his greeting. "I am Eldar Naghiyev, Commissar of National Defence and Comrade-05. It is good to be here, in your beautiful country."

Naghiyev and his escort followed the president to the Mercedes-SUV and entered the vehicle, heading into Antakya proper where they would begin the summit and lay the groundwork for what should hopefully prove to be an effective alliance against the Tehran Regime, one of the Socialist Republic's chief rivals.

[Khataiy]

Al-Amjad Resort, Antakya, Khataiy

The conference room where the talks would take place

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As the convoy arrived at the resort, journalists began taking pictures and attempted to ask questions but they continued until they reached their destination in the conference room. Upon entering everyone took their seats and a server began pouring mineral water into the glasses on the table. The Khataiyi delegation included President Khairalla, Foreign Minister Uthman al-Ghamadi, as well as a small group from the National Front the ruling political coalition that includes the Arab Socialist Vanguard Baath Party, the Trotskyist Socialist Front and the Muslim Brotherhood linked Justice Awakening Party however only Baathist and Trotskyist officials were present in hopes of finding a common-ground between Khataiy and Azerbaijan. President Khairallah introduced everyone and after the formalities were finished Khairallah said, "It's time we begin discussing business, we are here because Iran is our issue, today more than ever is a time of urgency in which we must act to cut the tentacles of the Safavids from reaching into our homelands.

A united front of nations is needed and it has come to us needing to unite regardless of who we are, however it is undeniable that the more we have in common the better, and you will find that we here in the Arab State of Khataiy are socialists ourselves and we have a very strong and proud Communist Party and our ideologies coexist in unity for the interests of our nation. This should be the nature of our relationship my comrades while different we should bind on our similarities and celebrate what may distinct us.

To build our relationship I would like to propose an investment in your nation's industry, particularly in petroleum and manufacturing, I also ask that we organize a combined military operation along Iran's border as a show of force and a sign of our unity, I would also like to allow Azerbaijani military personnel into our country in exchange for us maintain a small force in Azerbaijan, I would also like to secure an arms deal between our countries as we could both mutually benefit greatly in this regard, I also hope that companies both state and private can open their doors in our nations."

[Qirmizi Azerbaycan]

Al-Amjad Resort
Antakya
Khataiy

Naghiyev admired the ostentatious decor of the resort, a far cry from the brutalist concrete-and-steel architecture utilised by the Socialist Republic. Of course, his ideological sensibilities disapproved, but he couldn't help but be impressed regardless, and he was diplomatic enough to avoid any mention of his doctrinal opposition to the structure. After all, he was here to make friends with these people, not pointlessly antagonise them. He politely greeted the assembled Khataiyi politicians, taking note of the Trotskyists in particular. It would be interesting to learn more about the socialist traditions of this land, and he was aware that the Socialist Front was in a coalition government with the ruling Baathists, who were in a sense socialist themselves (the ideology was one of Arab Socialism, after all), and the Revolutionary League was no stranger to mixing socialism with nationalism. Chairman Mao himself had once remarked that a communist must also be a patriot.

He listened carefully to the Khataiyi proposal, assessing how well these suggestions would go with the rest of the top leadership. Some of them were more difficult than others, particularly those that requested entry into Azerbaijan. The military stuff was probably doable, but the economic stuff would be trickier, as many of the hardliners within the Council would no doubt denounce allowing foreigners to invest in the economy as dangerously revisionist, but they didn't matter. Only 01 and 02 mattered, and Naghiyev was fairly confident he could convince them to make it work. Perhaps a kind of special economic zone, around some of the oil fields and mountain mines.

"You are indeed correct, my friend, this is a matter of great urgency. The Iranians are expanding their operations, seeking to expand their dominance all the way to the Mediterranean. This is unacceptable, our nation was once subjugated by the Safavids until two centuries ago, when the Russians subjugated us instead, and we have no desire for history to repeat itself, even today they hold a great deal of our rightful territory and people captive. Iran must be rendered unable to threaten either of our nations ever again, and thus it is indeed of great importance that we be willing to cooperate, regardless of ideological differences. I am indeed glad to you my comrades in this struggle against our common foe.

I will have to consult with my colleagues regarding your proposals, but I see no reason why they cannot be done. The Baku oil fields in the Caspian Sea are still maintained by our government following the 2016 March Revolution, but we have not expanded our operations there since that time, and perhaps you could assist us in this endeavour. As for a joint military exercise, as Commissar of National Defence I would gladly allow for collaboration between our armed forces. I would suggest the Lankaran Region would be the best area for both the exercise and a garrison of your soldiers, as this is the only region of our country not operated from Iran by the Araz River, and is expected to be the scene of heavy fighting in the event of war. We would also welcome the opportunity for our arms industries to work together, as you say, it shall greatly benefit us both. As for a garrison of our own forces deployed within your territory, where would you say would be the best location for such a deployment?"

[Khataiy]

al-Amjad Resort, Antakya, Khataiy

President Khairallah nodded his head in agreeance and listened to what Comrade-01 had been saying and waited for him to finish before responding, "I am glad we are on the same page here, I will admit when we saw the coup in 2016 we were weary of a potential new threat but I can say now, I regret not making contact sooner. We too view portions of our people living under occupation, our Arab brothers in the Ahwaz, we also hold sympathies for the Balochi people and their struggle against Iran's occupation, as well as the even the Kurdish, it is my personal opinion a Kurdish state in what Iran occupies will settle many current conflicts in the region giving the Kurdish a land they can call their own.

Our hopes in investing in your nation economically is to build it up, how can we counter a regional power as strong as Iran without an economy? An economy that caters to the military is something that in the case of your nation would be beneficial, and I hope our investments and trade will make our nations stronger and closer. As for where I propose the Azerbaijani army be sent here in Khataiy, I would like to say our border with Syria. There are many Iranian backed militias there such as Hezbollah, the IRGC even has a camp near the Kessab border crossing. The Syrians tried to invade our country last year as you may have heard in headlines and we repelled them and negotiated conditions with Russia on reestablishing a De-militarized zone, but I think since Iran and their Shiite militias are on our door steps its only fair we are on theirs and let them know we will not tolerate their aggression, belligerence, imperialism or threats. We are not intimidated nor will we ever be.

As for military equipment we wish to offer you, I would like to give Azerbaijan 100 al-Walid Anti-Tank Portable Missile Launchers, 70 Norinco CQ Rifles, 4 Zastava M02 Coyote, and 2 M113 APCs."

[Qirmizi Azerbaycan]

Al-Amjad Resort
Antakya
Khataiy

Naghiyev listened with interest as the President outlined Khataiy's ongoing troubles with the Iranians, much of which he was already aware from the news and tentative intelligence operations in Syria as carried out by the Commissariat of Internal Security. Certainly, he had some interesting ideas, while the Azeri government was primarily interested in the reclamation of Iranian Azerbaijan and ensuring that a new Iranian regime would be in no position to oppose them, completely balkanising the nation and liberating other ethnic groups would truly ensure the end of the Iranian empire.

"Liberating other opposed groups in Iran is indeed a noble goal, and new states for the Kurdish and Balochi people, along with an Arab state perhaps in the Khuzestan region would be greatly beneficial to both our interests. Our own proposal for the reclamation of our territory involves the rightful annexation of Iranian Azerbaijan into the Socialist Republic, as illustrated by this map," he said, pulling out said map and placing it on the table. "Of course, we are quite some way from achieving this goal. Despite our militarisation efforts, Iran simply has a greater population and more industry than we can hope to compete with, even if their army is increasingly neglected in favour of the terrorist IRGC and foreign infiltrators of the Quds Force that currently threaten your interests in Syria. It is therefore necessary to destabilise them from within, convincing the people to resist the Tehran Regime and demand change. We have already begun such, contacting local anti-government groups and conducting a campaign on social media to encourage opposition to the Ayatollahs. Our efforts have mostly focused on our fellow Azeris, perhaps you could mount a similar campaign on behalf of the Ahwazi Arabs and other Arabic groups, as they are more likely to trust you than they are to trust us.

I am most grateful for your offer of military hardware, and graciously accept this gift, and wish to offer you one in return. I believe you could use more modern armour to supplement your own Cold War-era tanks, and I am therefore willing to offer you two T-90 Main Battle Tanks, acquired by the previous government just a year before the revolution. I am also willing to provide twenty indigenously designed and produced Istiglal Anti-Material Rifles, and five Marauder mine-protected vehicles. As for deploying some of our soldiers on the Syrian border, that should indeed help send a message to Iran and their puppets, just as your own presence within our border will indeed put you on their doorstep. Perhaps we should also discuss strategy and tactics, and assess the best way to achieve our mutual goals?"

[Khataiy]

Al-Amjad Resort, Antakya, Khataiy

President Khairallah responded by saying, "I see no issue in Azerbaijan reclaiming its land and its people, we would not object this. As for creating a broader insurgency in the Ahwaz and Balochi regions our intelligence agents have been working these areas since the 80s, we also host many exiles and we have extensive ties to resistance movements in Iraq that would gladly expand operations against Iran, we could also expand our efforts with our friends in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan by recruiting Balochi exiles and training them and arming them. We have been discussing plans similar to this with our regional partners such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia for years however things began to complicate after the Gulf wars and invasion of Afghanistan, as we were planning a similar deployment to this in Iraq and in Afghanistan, in 1999 we held talks with President Saddam Hussein and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to create a coalition to counter-Iran, we were also planning to re-connect Iraq with the Gulf States after the wars in the 90s. But I am glad we are back in a position to strike Iran once again, and perhaps this time we will be successful once all of our efforts are consolidated. As for your gift of arms I thank you deeply and sincerely, and I hope this is the beginning of many such exchanges.

For strategy, I believe we should best look to the examples of the Yugoslav wars to asses how a conflict in Iran may look, I think the example of Iraq's invasion back in 2003 would also be something to take into account as would the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. An invasion in all honesty from your end would not be the right move, sedition is needed but we already established this in saying we should support destabilization activities. I have no problem letting you take Azerbaijani regions... Iran is currently undergoing an economic crisis, there's protests daily, there's violence in the Ahwazi, Kurdish and Balochi regions which we have been discussing that is very sectarian and very much a Sunni-Shia conflict, but with this you offer a new element an alternative economic system this would be a new element to throw into the stew of polarization occurring, you need to ignite the flames of revolution in Tabriz just as other regions have been ignited. Once issues rise in Tabriz everything else will fall, remember, Khamenei is an Azerbaijani if you can turn his people against him no one will have him, are you familial with the People's Mujahideen of Iran (MEK)? They will be our biggest friend and collaborators, even the Americans and Israelis support them and this will be a bonus when the ball gets rolling."

[Qirmizi Azerbaycan]

Al-Amjad Resort
Antakya
Khataiy

The Commissar of National Defence nodded at this, as it was much the same strategic thinking that dominated the ASR's own plans. Great minds think alike, after all. "It is good to know that you have a long-term interest in the Iran issue, and it is good to see you have considered it well. Our plans call for fomenting mass unrest against the government in Tehran, particularly amongst Azeris, an operation which our agitators have already begun to execute. A local uprising against the Ayatollahs should hopefully be able to seize control of towns and villages across northern Iran, perhaps even seizing Tabriz itself. Such rebels will of course swiftly be attacked by government forces, so it is vital that we ourselves swiftly intervene to support the uprising, bringing n the heavy equipment needed to combat the Artesh and IRGC. It has been deemed vital that the Iranian Airforce base in Tabriz be neutralised to ensure air superiority, either by rebel sabotage or long-range rocket attacks. Simultaneous uprisings in other regions should put pressure on the government, and hopefully force them to rapidly capitulate, although we must consider the possibility that they will decide to fight to the end, particularly when it comes to the IRGC, as it possible that we will defections from the Artesh, whose loyalty to the regime is somewhat suspect.

It is indeed our hope to offer a sound alternative to the people of Iranian Azerbaijan, and indeed our propaganda efforts have focused on exactly that, along with reviving memory of the Azerbaijan People's Government established by the Soviets following the Great Patriotic War, before it was reoccupied by the Shah. Inspiring patriotic sentiment and the establishment of a greater Azeri identity are vital to sparking revolution. We are aware of the MEK, and indeed have worked with them to an extent. We considered them as a potential new Iranian government once the Ayatollahs have been toppled, although they have become increasingly unpopular amongst the Iranian people, and we are sceptical of their ability to maintain order. I would say your analysis of the war as resembling the Yugoslav conflict and the Iraq wars is reasonably accurate, and provides a good basis for our joint plans. Indeed, I hope this alliance will prove to be most fruitful for us both."

[Khataiy]

Al-Amjad Resort, Antakya, Khataiy

Khairallah was smiling as he nodded his head pleased with what he was hearing and replied, "I am glad we could come to an agreement, a new era has been established and we shall get work." He got up to reach across the table to shake hands, the meeting had concluded and Khairallah along with the rest of the officials began to exit the room with the Azerbaijanis to go back to the airbase for a final farewell.

[Qirmizi Azerbaycan]

Al-Izz air base
Antakya
Khaitay

"Fairwell, comrade," smiled Naghiyev as he shook Khairallah's hand one last time. "This has indeed proved to be a most productive trip, and I hope that we can continue to assist one another in our goals."

With that, he boarded the Airbus that had brought him here, again accompanied by his entourage of soldiers. There was much to do once they returned to the ASR, Operation Yazata could be greatly accelerated, and victory over the Ayatollahs now seemed much closer to reality. He would not let this opportunity go to waste.