Announcement

Collapse

Forum Rules (Everyone Must Read!!!)

1] What you CAN NOT post.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this forum to post any material which is:
- abusive
- vulgar
- hateful
- harassing
- personal attacks
- obscene

You also may not:
- post images that are too large (max is 500*500px)
- post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or cited properly.
- post in UPPER CASE, which is considered yelling
- post messages which insult the Armenians, Armenian culture, traditions, etc
- post racist or other intentionally insensitive material that insults or attacks another culture (including Turks)

The Ankap thread is excluded from the strict rules because that place is more relaxed and you can vent and engage in light insults and humor. Notice it's not a blank ticket, but just a place to vent. If you go into the Ankap thread, you enter at your own risk of being clowned on.
What you PROBABLY SHOULD NOT post...
Do not post information that you will regret putting out in public. This site comes up on Google, is cached, and all of that, so be aware of that as you post. Do not ask the staff to go through and delete things that you regret making available on the web for all to see because we will not do it. Think before you post!


2] Use descriptive subject lines & research your post. This means use the SEARCH.

This reduces the chances of double-posting and it also makes it easier for people to see what they do/don't want to read. Using the search function will identify existing threads on the topic so we do not have multiple threads on the same topic.

3] Keep the focus.

Each forum has a focus on a certain topic. Questions outside the scope of a certain forum will either be moved to the appropriate forum, closed, or simply be deleted. Please post your topic in the most appropriate forum. Users that keep doing this will be warned, then banned.

4] Behave as you would in a public location.

This forum is no different than a public place. Behave yourself and act like a decent human being (i.e. be respectful). If you're unable to do so, you're not welcome here and will be made to leave.

5] Respect the authority of moderators/admins.

Public discussions of moderator/admin actions are not allowed on the forum. It is also prohibited to protest moderator actions in titles, avatars, and signatures. If you don't like something that a moderator did, PM or email the moderator and try your best to resolve the problem or difference in private.

6] Promotion of sites or products is not permitted.

Advertisements are not allowed in this venue. No blatant advertising or solicitations of or for business is prohibited.
This includes, but not limited to, personal resumes and links to products or
services with which the poster is affiliated, whether or not a fee is charged
for the product or service. Spamming, in which a user posts the same message repeatedly, is also prohibited.

7] We retain the right to remove any posts and/or Members for any reason, without prior notice.


- PLEASE READ -

Members are welcome to read posts and though we encourage your active participation in the forum, it is not required. If you do participate by posting, however, we expect that on the whole you contribute something to the forum. This means that the bulk of your posts should not be in "fun" threads (e.g. Ankap, Keep & Kill, This or That, etc.). Further, while occasionally it is appropriate to simply voice your agreement or approval, not all of your posts should be of this variety: "LOL Member213!" "I agree."
If it is evident that a member is simply posting for the sake of posting, they will be removed.


8] These Rules & Guidelines may be amended at any time. (last update September 17, 2009)

If you believe an individual is repeatedly breaking the rules, please report to admin/moderator.
See more
See less

Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

    Ibrahimov, who sported blue Stefano Ricci crocodile-skin shoes that matched his blue Stefano Ricci jeans, blue Zilli jacket and blue Zilli button-down shirt, tapped his foot arrhythmically. Every time I started to ask a question or he started to answer, there was a call or an incoming message. Occasionally Ibrahimov said something random that could be mistaken for something profound: “I live very simply,” or “My favorite places are France and Turkey.”

    When Ibrahimov talks about himself, he hews to platitudes about, say, family (“it is important”) or how to get ahead in ex-communist countries (“instinct”). They are lessons he seems to have internalized. Ibrahimov was born in a village in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, a sliver of Azerbaijan wedged between Armenia and Iran. He has four brothers and two sisters. He called his father a “good Soviet” and a major influence in his life, but some suspect that Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s previous president, played a more important role.

    Aliyev, a former Politburo member, also came from Nakhichevan. In 1991, he became de facto leader of the autonomous republic, just as the Soviet Union was falling apart and Ibrahimov was starting his first business, a limited-liability corporation called Ilkan. It’s unclear what Ilkan made or sold — Ibrahimov said only that he made his first million, in 1992, in the furniture business — but in the early ’90s, according to Avesta company literature, Ibrahimov built a three-story headquarters for Ilkan in Nakhichevan, which would probably have been very hard without support from someone powerful. Then, in 1993, Aliyev became president of Azerbaijan, and in 1996, Ibrahimov began Avesta. “Mr. Ibrahimov has always had very good relations with the government,” Guluzade, Khazar Islands’ former marketing director, told me.

    Today Avesta oversees Ibrahimov’s many smaller companies. Some of these companies do things that seem to actually support Ibrahimov’s larger, development-related projects (building things, hauling equipment, clearing debris). Others, like the Azerbaijan-Iran Gunel Joint Enterprise, suggest more political interests. Opposition figures say that Ibrahimov owes much of what he has to the Aliyev family, but when I asked Ibrahimov about this, he shrugged. He said Avesta is not only a corporation but also a philanthropy, building water pipelines and mosques for poor villagers. He called Heydar Aliyev, who died in 2003, his inspiration, and he made a point of saying, more than once, that he likes Aliyev’s son, the current president, very much and thinks that he is guiding his country toward a more glorious and profitable future.

    As Ibrahimov spoke, the Rolls trundled over an unpaved road. He maintained, always, the outlines of a barely discernible grin, and every few seconds he would point at something that wasn’t there but he could already see perfectly, that had been part of his vision. The Azerbaijan Tower, he proclaimed, would definitely be in Guinness World Records, and if the Saudis or Emiratis or anyone anywhere tried to build a bigger building, then he would build an even bigger one.

    I asked him if there was anything Freudian about all these skyscrapers. He didn’t reply. Then suddenly, Ibrahimov blurted a series of unprompted factoids in his faux-profound style. First, “One hundred and fifty bridges are planned for Khazar Islands.” Then, in what seemed like a reference to his love of yachts: “Today the Caspian is only used for oil, but it’s not right.” Huseynli pointed at a cluster of recently planted palm trees. This seemed to cheer him up.

    On some level, there is an economic logic behind building the tallest, biggest, brashest building anywhere. The rise of superdevelopments in cities like Doha, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai — and, of course, Abu Dhabi and Dubai — sent signals to investors that the state supported growth. Usually, these sorts of developments attract the attention, first, of regional investors who know the local topography, which Khazar Islands has already done. “They’re coming from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, the Arabic countries and especially from Israel,” Guluzade told me. Next are the more skeptical international investors that Ibrahimov is hoping to impress. Hence the Azerbaijan Tower. “The investor is faced with this battery of choices,” explained Brian Connelly, a strategic-management professor at Auburn University’s College of Business. “But there are things they can’t see, so they’re looking for a signal that tells them this is good for them. If I can see that there’s the tallest building in the world, I know the host-country institutions are behind them.”

    Riding around in the Rolls, I couldn’t tell whether Ibrahimov was indeed a brilliant strategist or someone who just had the capital to create a vision on a piece of tissue paper and turn it into a construction project. Or perhaps both. As we neared the site of what will be the ritziest restaurant at Khazar Islands, he became very excited. The concrete and aluminum skeleton of the restaurant resembles a Viking helmet, and when it’s done, it will include a microbrewery, which Ibrahimov mentioned two or three times. “We have a guy from Austria,” he said. Nearby, there were more men in hard hats and jumpsuits, and trucks carting rocks. “In my head,” he said, “this project is already done.”

    Ibrahimov is not the only developer in Baku, and Khazar Islands is not the only major development. Flame Towers, which features three flamelike towers, includes a five-star hotel and, at night, will be lighted in red. The Heydar Aliyev Center, designed by Zaha Hadid, includes a museum and looks a little like the starship Enterprise. Baku White City will encompass 500-plus acres of new apartments and parking lots and is supposed to be the opposite of Black City, where the oil barons built their refineries a century ago. Finally, there’s Crystal Hall, a 23,000-seat arena overlooking the Caspian.

    Nearly three years after Ibrahimov’s initial vision on the Azerbaijan Airlines flight, Khazar Islands has grown to 4 fake islands, 1 bridge and 13 apartment buildings. All this development can feel a bit weird, or at least incongruous. As the Rolls careered through the outskirts of Baku, Ibrahimov became quiet. Unlike the United Arab Emirates, which was, until recently, a desert, Baku has a rich architectural history, with centuries-old mansions, mosques, palaces, squares and esplanades. (Some sites date to at least the seventh century.) Baku has a grace and cosmopolitanism; it feels like an amalgam of Paris and Istanbul, albeit dustier. It also feels like a gateway to the East, distant places, mythologies and many other things that the new Azerbaijan doesn’t have much appetite for. I interpreted Ibrahimov’s silence as a sign of melancholy, but in the front seat, Huseynli, who was fielding calls on two or possibly three cellphones, each with its own hip-hop ring tone, turned around excitedly. Glancing at the beige facades, the narrow streets, the old women selling apricots and nuts and pirated DVDs, she said: “All of this soon will be gone. Then we will have a new city. I like the old, of course, the historic. . . . But this will be gone, and then it will be a different country.”

    When we pulled up to the Avesta Concern Tower, in central Baku, several men in tweed jackets were assembled on the curb and ready to escort us inside. After lunch in Ibrahimov’s private dining room, we decamped to the office and sat on a red silk divan with miniature Sphinx armrests. Ibrahimov pointed out his artifacts: his desk, which, he said, is Spanish and the same kind used by Vladimir Putin; a chess set from Italy; a sculpture of his father.

    Ibrahimov segued back to Ilham Aliyev, the Boss of All Bosses, whom he called a great supporter, an ally, the son of the savior of the people of Azerbaijan. I asked him about other features of his regime: the lack of transparency, the lack of civil liberties, the detention of opposition activists. Ibrahimov said what oligarchs have been saying since Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian industrialist, was exiled to Siberia in 2003: “I don’t know anything about politics.” But “biznessmen” are much more intimately woven into the political fabric of Russia or Azerbaijan than C.E.O.’s in the West. They may wear crocodile-skin shoes, but they rely on the state for pipelines and extraction rights.

    Ibrahimov, like other successful men in this part of the world, knows his place, and he knows it is best to be philosophical about these things. “Don’t ask me about politics,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake. This is not what I’m good at. This is not what I do.” Then his semismile semiwidened, and he started talking about his next big idea, which features more stratospheric buildings and superlong canals and eight-star hotel-palaces and heliports and yacht clubs. He was sure all these things could be done. He knew it There were important people — “political people,” he said — who support him.

    Last edited by Mher; 07-08-2013, 02:06 AM.

    Comment


    • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

      Azerbaijan Opposition Pins Hopes On Cultural Heavyweight For Presidential Vote

      By Arifa Kazimova and Daisy Sindelar

      July 02, 2013
      Surprises are hard to come by in the highly managed world of Azerbaijani elections.

      But Azerbaijan's opposition has already managed the first twist in what may prove an unusually lively electoral season by backing screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov to face off against incumbent Ilham Aliyev when the oil-rich nation votes for a president in October.

      The National Council of Democratic Forces -- an umbrella group pulling together the country's main opposition parties -- voted overwhelmingly on July 2 to nominate Ibragimbekov, the screenwriter behind such classics as "White Sun of the Desert" and "Burnt by the Sun," the Academy Award-winning film made with his longtime collaborator Nikita Mikhalkov.

      Ibragimbekov's name has been dangled as a potential nominee ever since he was appointed council chair last month. But it remained uncertain whether Azerbaijan's fractious opposition could ultimately unite behind a single candidate and whether the 74-year-old Ibragimbekov -- who has described himself as a "political neophyte" -- would rise to the challenge.

      Speaking by phone from Moscow shortly after his nomination, Ibragimbekov told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service he was daunted but determined.

      "This is a huge responsibility. I am grateful to my comrades for their trust," he said. "I will do everything in my power to achieve success. My hope is in the people of Azerbaijan. They will decide their own historic destiny. If I didn't believe in it, I wouldn't agree to take this responsibility. I will fight to the end."

      Fresh Urgency

      Ibragimbekov's nomination is not necessarily expected to alter the outcome of the vote, in which the country's 51-year-old president, Ilham Aliyev, is widely expected to win a constitutionally permitted third term as the candidate of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP).

      But the participation of an esteemed cultural figure like Ibragimbekov, whose work is known and respected far beyond the borders of Azerbaijan, may lend fresh urgency to calls for change in the increasingly autocratic Caspian country, which has been ruled by a single bloodline for more than two decades.


      In addition to Ibragimbekov's nomination, the National Council on July 2 approved a formal memorandum outlining a radical overhaul of Azerbaijan's political system in the event of an opposition win.

      The memorandum foresees a two-year, single-term "transitional" presidency, fresh parliamentary elections in 2014, and a recalibration to narrow presidential powers and broaden legislative ones.

      Ali Karimli, the head of the Popular Front Party, attended the July 2 National Council session and said Ibragimbekov was the ideal candidate to guide Azerbaijan through a political transformation.

      "This is for the position he's demonstrated in recent years, for his efforts at forming the National Council, and for his authority in the world and among the Azerbaijani people," Karimli says. "This man will only be president for two years. He will not participate in the next elections. He will remain nonpartisan. He will not think about naming heirs in the presidential or parliamentary elections. He will work for this nation to join the democratic world during the transition period. We think Rustam Ibragimbekov can become this person."

      Celebrity Status

      For his advocates, Ibragimbekov's assets go beyond his perceived political incorruptibility. He is also seen as having celebrity status in both the United States and Russia, where he is expected to generate a drumbeat of support ahead of the election. (A formal date for the election has not been announced but constitutionally it is due to be schedule

      Ibragimbekov, who won an Academy Award for "Burnt by the Sun" in 1995, traveled to Washington in June, where he said lawmakers expressed enthusiasm for steps for the "development of democracy" in Azerbaijan.

      Now in Moscow, Ibragimbekov is expected to draw on an especially powerful circle of friends, including the so-called "billionaires' union" -- the Union of Azerbaijani Organizations of Russia, a diaspora support group that includes LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov and property mogul Araz Agalarov -- of which he is a member.

      Gathering support abroad, however, comes at the expense of face time at home. Having thrown their weight behind his nomination, opposition supporters are now eager to see Ibragimbekov return to Azerbaijan as soon as possible – even if it means his possible arrest or even murder, as Ibragimbekov has himself suggested.

      READ NEXT: Azerbaijan's Opposition Gears Up To Give Aliyev Serious Challenge

      Isa Qambar, the head of the Musavat opposition party, backed the National Council decision but is also keeping his own party nomination active in the event that Ibragimbekov does not return to Baku.

      "Ibragimbekov says he will come to Azerbaijan by the end of the month. We want to believe this," Qambar says. "I hope we won't hear in a month, 'Gather 100,000 people and I'll come to Baku.' That we won't hear in two months, 'I'll come after my candidacy is registered.'

      "Registering a candidate is a risk. If there are other candidates in addition to our single candidate, the authorities will have a chance to choose between them and there's a risk of that happening. The National Council could be left out the elections altogether."

      Registration Perils

      The ruling party has already raised the possibility of a National Council collapse, with the YAP deputy executive secretary, Siyavush Novruzov, saying on July 2 that "every political party leader is going to put forth his candidacy as the elections approach. Nothing the National Council does has any significance for YAP."

      The registration period is certain to present its own perils to a potential Ibragimbekov run. By law, each nominee is required to gather no fewer than 40,000 signatures in at least 60 electoral districts -- a demand that can expose opposition candidates to the vagaries of local officials loyal to the ruling regime.

      Ibragimbekov, who holds a Russian passport and owns homes in Moscow and California, may also hit procedural snags over an electoral ban on candidates holding "foreign commitments."

      For many Azerbaijanis, the potential of an Aliyev-Ibragimbekov face-off in the October vote is a drama as personal as it is political.

      Despite a 2012 YouTube video showing the Azerbaijani president raising a lavish vodka toast to the filmmaker on his birthday, Ibragimbekov has had a hot-and-cold relationship with both Ilham and his father, Heydar, and recently criticized the ruling elite for failing to nurture the Azerbaijani intelligentsia.

      "They think they are the salt of the earth, and they think our history began in 1993," he said. "Such neglect offended me. That's why I'm speaking up."

      Azerbaijan's opposition National Council has nominated celebrated screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov as its presidential candidate in the October election. Revered by the cultural elite for films such as "White Sun of the Desert" and "Burnt by the Sun," Ibragimbekov also enjoys support in Russia and the United States and may go far in shaking up Azerbaijan's election season as autocrat Ilham Aliyev seeks a controversial third term.




      __________________________________________________ ____________________________________

      Azerbaijani Opposition Nominates Single Presidential Candidate



      July 02, 2013
      BAKU -- Azerbaijan's political opposition groups have united to nominate a single candidate for October's presidential election.

      At a session of the National Council of Democratic Forces on July 2, prominent screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov (aka Ibrahimbayov) was chosen to represent the opposition in the presidential race.

      The session also produced a memorandum outlining a "transition period."

      The document states that, if elected, the opposition's candidate would remain in office for only two years.

      During that period, the National Council would establish a "government of national trust" to implement constitutional and electoral reforms. The proposed reforms would decrease the powers of the presidency, widen the parliament's responsibilities, and establish an independent judiciary system.

      The ruling New Azerbaijan Party nominated incumbent President Ilham Aliyev as its presidential candidate last month.

      Aliyev has held power since 2003, after succeeding his father.


      Azerbaijan's political opposition groups have united to nominate a single candidate for October's presidential election.
      Last edited by Mher; 07-08-2013, 03:46 AM.

      Comment


      • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs



        I think the tower would make a fine target to aim at from marduni some day


        __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _____



        The Highest Skyscraper In the World Will Be This 3,444-Foot Turd


        Forget about the 1-kilometer-high Kingdom Tower. There will be a building higher than that: the Azerbaijan Tower. It will be fifty meters higher than the Kingdom Tower, have 189 floors and look like a shiny glass, steel and concrete monolith of crap.

        The 1.050-kilometer (3,444.88-foot) Azerbaijan Tower will be built on the Khazar Islands, an artificial archipelago that is being constructed on the coast of the Caspian Sea off Garadag, southwest of Baku, the capital of the country. It's an architectural aberration, a nonsensical bunch of structures tied together into a tower with zero coherence, let alone taste. It looks like an oversized mall growing among other oversized malls. Vertical bad taste.

        Pure turdchitecture.

        And while you can criticize the super-tall towers in the Arab Emirates, at least something like the 1-kilometer glass shard that is the Kingdom Tower has purpose and simplicity, something that is complete absent in this building and all the little skyturds that surround it.

        The Khazar Islands will be a $100-billion city composed by 41 artificial islands. They will cover a 2,000-hectare surface. According to the plan, one million people will live in this new "city". The developer—some Haji Ibrahim Nehramli, president of the Avesta Group of Companies—is already negotiating with the companies that built the Burj Khalifa. Construction of the tower will start in 2015. It will be finished around 2019, with a total price tag of $2 billion.


        When I saw the Burj Khalifa in real life I was truly stunned. The tallest skyscraper in the world defies belief. Today I learned something that also… Read…

        Now, imagine the process of building this in a virgin ecosystem and then having 1,000,000 people move in. Even if they get their sewer system right and don't have to use trucks to get the poop out, the impact will be enormous. But of course, who cares. Screw it. Let's play SimCity.

        So yes, this is going to be real. Hell exists and it's surfacing in the Caspian Sea



        lol one of the comments

        "This is most amusing. I have worked in Baku, it's a xxxx hole. In fact the whole country is a bit of a xxxx hole (no offense to any Azeries reading, but it is). If it wasn't for oil, it would be a xxxx hole that I would have never visited nor wanted to. Why on earth spend this amount of money putting this in a xxxx hole? The money would be better spent removing the xxxx from the hole. 2/10/12 3:03am "
        Last edited by Mher; 07-08-2013, 03:48 AM.

        Comment


        • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

          Unlike arab emirates or other oil exporter states on the seas, the Caspian is a closed ecosystem. For any oil spills and residues stay long time.
          Imagine how filthy the shoreline is going to get. It is allready filthy enough. Seen oil covered beaches or fields in there in pictures? People would come and spend money in stinking neighborhoods? By the way, I remember a soviet times study that showed that land around baku was slowly sinking, just like the whole caspian basin that has been sinking a few million years.

          Comment


          • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

            Originally posted by Hakob View Post
            Unlike arab emirates or other oil exporter states on the seas, the Caspian is a closed ecosystem. For any oil spills and residues stay long time.
            Imagine how filthy the shoreline is going to get. It is allready filthy enough. Seen oil covered beaches or fields in there in pictures? People would come and spend money in stinking neighborhoods? By the way, I remember a soviet times study that showed that land around baku was slowly sinking, just like the whole caspian basin that has been sinking a few million years.
            That's a really strong point. There has always been reports over the past decade of increased cancer rates due to the oil extraction in Baku
            Greg Palast investigates the role of BP in the regime of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, a corrupt regime which kills its opponents.


            Originally posted by .
            But when I left the Old City and its Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana stores and headed off to Sangachal, the town where BP’s terminal operates, I found a nation heading full speed into the 14th century…

            Baku, once the world’s leading manufacturer of oil drilling equipment, is now one of the world’s leading centers of oil-toxin cancers. Walking along the main street of Sangachal, the aptly nicknamed, “Terminal Town”, was like doing the rounds in a cancer ward.

            The local shoemaker, Elmar Mamonov - who hasn’t sold a shoe in two years - told me:

            “This one’s daughter has breast cancer; there, Rasul had a brain tumor. Cancers we had never seen. His funeral was last week.”

            Azlan, afraid to give his last name, paid to have a cancerous lung cut out, because employer BP wouldn’t pay. He says the oil company fired him after he could not keep up with his work.

            And there was Shala Tageva, a schoolteacher, who has ovarian cancer. She needs treatment soon, but how to pay for it, Mamonov can’t imagine. Shala is Mamonov’s wife.

            Greg Palast investigates the role of BP in the regime of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, a corrupt regime which kills its opponents.

            And what you say about sinking shore is absolutely true, also note that the water level is rising, which is a proven fact, except in Baku science I guess
            Caspian Sea-Level Rise: An Environmental Emergency


            eye opening graph


            Also, we need to realize from every side there's oil exploitation, where 4 of the 5 regimes are former USSR regimes, with companies sprung up in the lawless early 90's period, where environmental protection is far down the list of priorities, and political dissent is never heard. So there's little regulations, long term planning, or safety considerations, just focus on profits, only increasing potential for disaster

            Finally, such a plan takes so much planning and research to even be remotely viable, the fact that this jackass drew something on a t-shirt, and got started building, and is proud of it, just shows you who we're dealing with

            Lol we just gotta sit back and enjoy the show
            This stunning picture of the world was actually snapped outside Earth's orbit. The stunning image of the man-made archipelago was taken by an astronaut on board the International Space Station.

            Comment


            • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

              Almost empty after a year... The Shard turns into the tallest white elephant in the world

              .. Just six of its 72 floors in use after owners struggle to find buyers and tenants for luxury flats

              .. Only occupants are 32nd floor restaurant and a viewing gallery on the upper five floors

              .. The Shard is south of the Thames, across the river from the lucrative Square Mile



              Reaching more than a thousand feet into the air, The Shard was hailed as one of the wonders of the age when it was completed.

              Yet Britain’s tallest building is almost entirely empty, as its owners struggle to find buyers and tenants for its offices and luxury flats.

              As our picture shows, London’s 72-storey skyscraper is largely dark in the early evening, while the surrounding buildings are bright with office lights.



              FULL ARTICLE

              As our picture shows, London's 72-storey skyscraper is largely dark in the early evening, while the surrounding buildings are bright with office lights.
              Politics is not about the pursuit of morality nor what's right or wrong
              Its about self interest at personal and national level often at odds with the above.
              Great politicians pursue the National interest and small politicians personal interests

              Comment


              • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                Azeri Woman Attempts to Cross into Karabakh


                YEREVAN (ArmRadio)—Azeri police detained a 76-year-old woman who was attempting to cross Karabakh border with a white flag in her hand, the Azeri service of Radio Liberty reports.

                Zarifa Safaraliyeva, the mother of 8, took the step because of Azeri authorities’ unacceptable treatment of her five sons, who became disabled in Karabakh war.

                The woman complained that her sons were beaten up and ridiculed over their disabilities, with local police taking no effort to protect them.

                “I gave 5 of my sons to the war and they came back disabled. My sons also have large families; one of them has 15 kids. They were drafted into war, and I was promised compensation. Now, the authorities wouldn’t hear of it. That’s the reason I want to go over to Armenian side with my family,” the elderly resident of Guzanly village said.


                Comment


                • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                  The Dictator screenings cancelled in Azerbaijan, cinema claims 'technical problems'



                  Wednesday 23rd May 2012 – 4.39pm
                  Author: Safia Azizi

                  Screenings of the new Sasha Baron Cohen's film 'The Dictator' have been cancelled in a cinema located in the capital of Azerbaijan on Wednesday.

                  The Park Cinema, from which the film was pulled, was the one and only venue where 'The Dictator' was shown across Azerbaijan. The reason invoked for the cancellation of the screenings was "technical problems." There are only three cinemas across Azerbaijan including Park Cinema in the capital Baku.

                  Cohen's film tells the story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he oppresses.

                  Azerbaijan is under the spotlight this week as it is hosting the Eurovision song contest. Approximately 125m are expected to watch the extremely popular program live from Baku.

                  Despite an apparent improvement in terms of freedom of expression and freedom of speech, journalists, bloggers, as well as political activists and artists, including musicians, continue to be intimidated, censored and imprisoned in Azerbaijan.

                  The government banned last month all foreign TV shows claiming that the measure aimed at boosting and "supporting the domestic sector.”

                  Azerbaijan authorities arrested several protesters on Monday during a rally attended by members of the Public Chamber opposition movement, as well as NGOs and individuals in the opposition. They demonstrated in support of political prisoners who they say have been illegally arrested or convicted and therefore should be released.

                  Public Chamber has planned to organize more protests during the Eurovision contest in order to attract media attention to their cause and human rights violations in the country.



                  __________________________________________________ _____________________________________________
                  Outdated, but nonetheless funny

                  Comment


                  • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                    TURKISH EXPERTS ACCUSE HEYDAR ALIYEV IN MURDERING EX-PRESIDENT OF TURKEY

                    17:08 11/02/2013

                    Shocking information was announced about the last Azerbaijani President
                    Heydar Aliyev on the Turkish TV channel "Ulke TV". On February 7, in
                    the program "Special Edition", the issue concerning the poisoning of
                    the dead Turkish President Turgut Ozal was discussed. You can watch
                    the video here.

                    According to Azadlyg writer Omer Ozkaya says that Turgut Ozal was
                    poisoned by mixing poison with the lemonade which he got from the
                    hands of the "trusted person in the Azerbaijani leadership." As a
                    result of inquiry Ozkaya came to the conclusion that that person
                    was Heydar Aliyev. The evidence for this hypothesis the Turkish side
                    received from the intelligence services of Bulgaria from whom it had
                    actually obtained the poison.

                    According to Turkish expert, after having transferred this information,
                    the Bulgarian secret service agent was found dead.

                    According to the official version, he committed suicide, but the
                    examination showed that he was killed.

                    Azerbaijani authorities hastened to refute the information that Turgut
                    Ozal was poisoned in Baku by Heydar Aliyev. Allegedly, Aliyev was
                    not in Baku during this time, as far as in 1992 he was the head of
                    the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.

                    Recently it was reported that in the textbook of "Constitutional Law"
                    for law students of Turkish universities the former president of
                    Azerbaijan, "National leader" Heydar Aliyev is brought as an example
                    of a modern dictator in the same line with Saddam Hussein and Pinochet.

                    Source: Panorama.am

                    Shocking information was announced about the last Azerbaijani President
                    Heydar Aliyev on the Turkish TV channel "Ulke TV". On February 7, in
                    the program "Special Edition", the issue concerning the poisoning of
                    the dead Turkish President Turgut Ozal was discussed. You can watch
                    the video here.

                    According to Azadlyg writer Omer Ozkaya says that Turgut Ozal was
                    poisoned by mixing poison with the lemonade which he got from the
                    hands of the "trusted person in the Azerbaijani leadership." As a
                    result of inquiry Ozkaya came to the conclusion that that person
                    was Heydar Aliyev. The evidence for this hypothesis the Turkish side
                    received from the intelligence services of Bulgaria from whom it had
                    actually obtained the poison.

                    According to Turkish expert, after having transferred this information,
                    the Bulgarian secret service agent was found dead.

                    According to the official version, he committed suicide, but the
                    examination showed that he was killed.

                    Azerbaijani authorities hastened to refute the information that Turgut
                    Ozal was poisoned in Baku by Heydar Aliyev. Allegedly, Aliyev was
                    not in Baku during this time, as far as in 1992 he was the head of
                    the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.

                    Recently it was reported that in the textbook of "Constitutional Law"
                    for law students of Turkish universities the former president of
                    Azerbaijan, "National leader" Heydar Aliyev is brought as an example
                    of a modern dictator in the same line with Saddam Hussein and Pinochet.

                    Source: Panorama.am

                    Comment


                    • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                      Publication of Safar Abiyev's letter to Samvel Babayan draws huge
                      public response in Azerbaijan

                      ARMINFO
                      Thursday, February 7, 21:40

                      Spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Party "Umid" ("Hope") Haynur Imranova
                      disseminated a letter in social media. The letter goes back to 1993.
                      In the letter then acting defense minister of Azerbaijan Safar Abiyev
                      (current defense minister -ed.) promises Defense Minister of Nagorno
                      Karabakh Samvel Babayan to stop all kind of military actions for three
                      days in connection with the meeting of the two countries' presidents.

                      The publication of the letter and the comment by Imranova, wherein she
                      asks by the Azerbaijani authorities still deceive the people with
                      false negotiations if yet in 1993 they recognized Nagorno Karabakh and
                      were making arrangements directly with Stepanakert when necessary,
                      have drawn huge public response and discontent in Azerbaijan,
                      Faktxeber.com writes.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X