Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Because Iranians do not look like how it was shown.....even if they used ugly slaves for conquering the king was, shall we say kind of blackish.

King Xerxes




I actually liked the movie and I also thought that they are way off the mark but then I figured its pushed with a political agenda.

but you also have to talk about the inaccuracies. for example how they called it the so called Persian empire when everyone knows it was the azerbaijan kingdom. its inaccuracies like that that ruined the movie for me

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Police crushes demonstrators in Baku
20:08 / 04/26/2010


Police in the Azerbaijani capital today detained dozens of opposition activists on their way to a rally outside the mayor's office, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

The rally was organized by the opposition Azadliq (Liberty) political grouping, which includes the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, the Liberal Party, and the Civil and Development Party. They were picketing the Mayor's Office to demand that the authorities respect freedom of assembly. But police and plainclothes officers did not allow the activists to gather at the City Hall, and detained the demonstrators in small groups near the Iceri Seher subway station.

Among the detainees were the journalist Seymur Haziyev, Vice-Chairan of the Liberal Party of Azerbaijan Avez Temirakh, as well as Ayande Mursaliyeva, the wife of the editor-in-chief of the Azadiq newspaper, the journalists Natig Gulahmedov and Parviz Hashimli and others, reported Turan.

Azadliq representatives said about 80 party members were detained. They said about 50 of them were taken to the police department and the rest driven to various parts of the city. The police, however, reported 30 detainees and explained that the action had not been sanctioned.

Two weeks ago police also broke up a similar protest in front of the Baku City Hall organized by the opposition Musavat party.

The Azerbaijani Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, but the Baku authorities have refused to allow public protests in the city center for three years, only permitting demonstrations on the outskirts.

T.P.

[hipeter924]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Yep classic hypocracy, then again the Azeri govermment are up to their noses in bullxxxx, oil, money, alcohol and hoars so they wouldnt care about that.

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Azerbaijani Youth Leader Arrested, Whereabouts Unknown
The chairman of the opposition Musavat Party's youth wing has been arrested and sentenced to 10 days in jail.
Friday, April 30, 2010 By RFE/RL


BAKU -- The chairman of the opposition Musavat Party's youth wing has been arrested and sentenced to 10 days in jail, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

Azerbaijani Interior Ministry spokesman Ehsan Zahidov told RFE/RL that Tural Abbasli was sentenced for creating "social disorder."

He did not specify how or when Abbasli committed the crime. He also said he has no information on the whereabouts of Abbasli.

A relative of Abbasli's, Naiba Hasanova, told RFE/RL that people in plainclothes detained Abbasli as he was leaving an apartment block in Baku's Nasimi district on April 29.

She said they pushed her away when she tried to help Abbasli before they drove off.

Police officers in the Nasimi district told RFE/RL that they had no information about Abbasli, and that they had no record of a person with that name being arrested.

Abbasli's mother, Bashxanim Abbasova, says her son's detention might be connected with youth protests marking the first anniversary of a shooting spree at Azerbaijan's State Oil Academy that was violently dispersed by police today.

Dozens of students were detained and several protesters injured.

On April 30, 2009, a Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani origin, Farda Gadirov, opened fire in the Oil Academy building, killing 12 and wounding 13.

Gadirov then killed himself when police attempted to arrest him.

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=31934&t=Azerbaijani+Youth+Leader+Arrested,+Whereabouts+Unknown

[Yedtarts]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Burial in Cuba, the result of actions of the Turkish-Azerbaijani army in 1918-1919.

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.antituran.info/index.php/2009-03-03-20-37-32/383--1918-1919-&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhidZT0_G6kVcZldTjlf9Vfm8mtUKA

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Azerbaijani Security Services Robbed Norwegian Journalist at Baku Airport


Erling Borgen
BAKU. May 7, 2010: Security Services of Azerbaijan robbed the Norwegian journalist Erling Borgen and his cameraman Dug Inge Dahl of their film materials about Azerbaijan when they were boarding a plane at Baku Airport. The Norwegian journalists had arrived to Baku to make a film about the arrested Azeri journalist Eynulla Fatullayev. On May 5, when the Norwegian journalists were about to board the plane at Baku Airport, they were stopped by security stuff of the airport. “After half hour of negotiations the security stuff insisted on taking my hand luggage in order to measure it. I did not have a choice, I had to check-in my hand luggage and it was sent to the luggage section,” says Borgen.

The journalist, when he received his baggage, saw that the recordings of his six-day filming in Baku was erased. Borgen also says someone removed the text of the verdict of European Court of Human Rights on journalist Eynulla Fatullayev.

“But they were tricked. Because we had already managed to transfer the copy of our video-recordings to Oslo. We shall promptly start the editing of our documentary film “Political prisoner in Azerbaijan” about Eynulla Fatullayev,” said Borgen.

The Norwegian journalist also noted that the security stuff also stole their memory cards and photos.

“It says everything about what type of regime is in power in Azerbaijan at the moment. I take this robbery very seriously and I have already communicated my concerns to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and police. I admire the courage of my journalist friends in Azerbaijan,” said Borgen. (Azerireport prepared this material based on the report of the Azeri service of RFE/RL).

http://azerireport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2121&Itemid=47

Norwegian Filmmaker Leaves Azerbaijan With Less Than He Came In With

Journalist and filmmaker Erling Borgen in Baku on May 5
May 07, 2010
Noted Norwegian journalist and filmmaker Erling Borgen recently visited Azerbaijan to produce a documentary on freedom of expression under the authoritarian leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

He left with firsthand experience.

Borgen tells RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that much of the material he filmed and collected in Azerbaijan -- largely focused on the case of imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev -- was confiscated by unknown persons shortly after he checked in at the Baku airport for his flight back to Oslo early on the morning of May 6.

Borgen says he passed through security checkpoints with no problem but that he was told he had too much luggage when he tried to check in. He said he was also told that he and his crew were not allowed to take any hand luggage onboard because it was too large.

"At this moment, we were surrounded by six or seven people," Borgen says. "Their behavior was aggressive and they did not communicate with us in English.

"They said we had to place all luggage on the counter. They wanted to weigh it. In the middle of this process, which lasted 30 to 40 minutes, the clerk behind the desk pushed a button and my personal luggage disappeared inside a black hole. By jumping on the luggage carousel, I was able to recover our camera. But my personal luggage had disappeared."

Borgen says the ticket clerk apologized and said he'd be able to retrieve his luggage later. But Borgen says he didn't see his bag again until Oslo, and that by then, it was missing a number of items, including:

-- A hard disk with all of his five to six hours of filming
-- All of his documents, including his list of contacts in Baku
-- Press releases from various NGO
-- Memory cards from his digital camera
-- Photos of Fatullayev

Borgen said someone also inspected his mobile phone. "I know because they had changed the language from my Norwegian to English," he says.

Maharram Safarli, the service chief of the state firm AZAL, which administers the airport, told RFE/RL that he was not aware of the Borgen incident but said, "Security officials never bother anyone without serious reasons."

Subsequent efforts to contact Safarli were unsuccessful.

Borgen has filed complaints with the Norwegian police and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

President Aliyev was listed as one of 40 "Predators of Press Freedom" by Reporters Without Borders on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3.

"This says a lot about what kind of regime Azerbaijan is today," he says. "They fear freedom of expression. ... I admire my brave journalist friends in Azerbaijan."

All is not lost, however. While he was still working in Azerbaijan, Borgen says he made several copies of his work and sent them all ahead.

"We have all the material in Oslo and have studied the material today," Borgen tells RFE/RL. "It is very good, very interesting, and we will start the editing very soon!"

-- Grant Podelco

http://www.rferl.org/content/Norwegian_Filmmaker_Leaves_Azerbaijan_With_Less_Than_What_He_Came_In_With/2035719.html

[lampron]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

probably if Armenians had been united, had good leaders, a strong army and had dream/vision, today there would be no Azerbaijan. Paytakaran, once part of historic Armenia, would be in Armenia today

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paytakaran

[Tigranakert]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Probably if we had normal human beings as neighbours, we would have a prosperous Armenia. Also, we are not as barbaric and genocidal and are not imperialist orientated, which is one of the reasons why our country is not as big today.

We have been far too kind, the biggest lesson we have learned is that we have to be MUCH more aggresive than we have been in our history.

The Turks will never be our friends, they are our eternal enemies and they need to be kicked out of our historical lands.

[ninetoyadome]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Azerbaijani Government Pondering Ways to Control the Web
May 13, 2010 - 11:36am, by Mina Muradova
Azerbaijan Free Speech
A game of free-speech cat-and-mouse is moving into another media sphere in Azerbaijan, where officials in Baku are mulling the introduction of a licensing system for online radio and TV operations. Media rights advocates are decrying licensing plans as a means of control over the free flow of information.

Citing claims about Internet users’ alleged "illegal activities,” Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov on April 17 called for the licensing of websites, including radio, TV and online “commercial services.”

The minister did not provide details about the supposed “illegal activities,” but described licensing as a way to provide for Azerbaijan’s information security.

"There is no mechanism today to influence them,” the news portal Sia.az quoted Abbasov as saying, referring to news websites. “If we would have licensing, we would be able to systematize our Internet activities and it would lead to [their] development, as well.”

The head of Azerbaijan’s National TV and Radio Council (NTRC), Nushiravan Maggeramli, made similar comments on April 22, when he called for stronger controls for online radio and TV. EurasiaNet.org could not reach Maggeramli for clarification, but NTRC attorney Tohid Aliyev said that the council has been working to develop a mechanism for the regulation of online media outlets for some time. He could not state whether or not a draft plan for licensing has been formulated.

"There is no doubt, electronic media should be under control,” Aliyev said. “It is not permitted that everyone can say whatever comes into his mind, something against the state or pornographic materials. Therefore, a legal framework should be established in order to prevent illegal activities.”

Azerbaijan’s Internet usage has exploded in recent years, a period that has coincided with a government crackdown on more traditional broadcast and print media outlets. These days, television and radio stations are largely limited to government-sympathetic programming. [For additional information see EuarsiaNet’s archive]. Minister Abbasov put the number of Internet users in Azerbaijan at between 2.3 million to 3.0 million – roughly a third of the number of mobile phone users, Radio Azadliq reported. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development stated in a May 4 release that Azerbaijan’s number of Internet users has quadrupled since 2002, although as many as 70 percent of subscribers still rely on dial-up service providers.

Despite a paucity of Internet Service Providers outside of Baku, the country features an active network of bloggers; social networking sites like Facebook are also routinely used to disseminate information critical of the government. Facebook reports that its number of users from Azerbaijan has increased by 50,000 people since January 2010 alone to almost 155,000 people.

Calling the licensing statements “a shameless offensive against the Internet,” international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders asserted in a May 6 statement that Azerbaijani officials want to license radio and TV sites in order “to maintain their monopoly of news and information.”

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, representatives of 15 media and civil society organizations expressed similar concerns, noting that “[m]any Azerbaijani citizens have lost their trust in traditional TV and radio broadcasters, and have moved on to more credible and objective information sources.”

Mehman Aliyev, director of the pro-opposition Turan news agency, who signed the statement, asserted that the government’s motivation for the licensing plan was to restrict opportunities for free debate and discussion. The government’s desire to control public discourse is expected to intensify in the coming months, as the country is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections November 7.

"The Internet is a platform for mass communication between people on various issues, including political, social and economic. … As the number of Internet users increases, the Internet’s impact on public opinion increases, too. And, this is dangerous for an authoritarian power,” Aliyev said.

Currently, only Azerbaijan Network Television (ANTV), a citizen-journalism operation, could be termed an online TV outlet; it also uses YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to broadcast its video reports. One founder of ANTV, Emin Milli, is now serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for alleged hooliganism. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].

The website for Radio Azadliq, the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has also become an increasingly popular source for news. The station lost its ability to broadcast on Azerbaijan’s domestic airwaves in 2009. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].

Emin Huseynov, director of the Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety, said there are ways for websites to evade the licensing scheme’s apparent intent. Online TV sites can easily register abroad to broadcast Azeri and Russian-language programs, he noted.

Huseynov added that efforts to introduce regulations for online TV sites may be influenced by how quickly the channels develop. "If, indeed, alternative Internet TV channels appear in Azerbaijan, which could attract a wide audience, then the adoption of such a law is not excluded," he said.

Together with Turan, Huseynov’s Institute plans to launch a “professional online TV” site modeled on Euronews with news reports five times per day, Huseynov said. Tests for the site have already begun.

If Azerbaijan moves to license such sites, he continued, “[t]hen Azerbaijan will be in line with China and Cuba, where the Internet is under state control.”

Editor's note: Mina Muradova is a freelance reporter based in Baku.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/61060

[Yedtarts]

Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

Ultimatum Ilham Aliyev: "Do not do this to be on the scrap heap of history"

Harsh criticism of the authorities of Azerbaijan by the destruction of mosques in the country is gaining momentum. The Iranian Ayatollah Zein-ol-Abeddin Ghorbani nominated President Ilham Aliyev ultimatum.

During Friday prayers, Ayatollah Ghorbani raised the issue of mosques in Azerbaijan, and, turning to Ilham Aliyev, said: "I propose to you an ultimatum, do not do so to be on the ash heap of history in a place with Mohammed Reza Shah and Saddam Hussein", reports the Iranian portal «Shomal N ews».

"Ilham Aliyev became a weapon in the hands of the Zionists and the Wahhabis, ultimately, spiritual leaders will call on Muslims to fight and revolt", - added Ayatollah Ghorbani.

Last week, with a sharp criticism of President Ilham Aliyev made by senior Iranian clerics. In particular, Ayatollah Safi Galpaegani sent a letter to Ilham Aliyev, in which he criticized the president for the destruction of mosques. In turn, Ayatollah Nasir Makarim Shirazi, said that Muslim believers are waiting for a fatwa from religious leaders, and if Azerbaijan does not stop the destruction of mosques, the clerics will order the believers to resist a life and death. "The dead in this way will be considered a shahid" - Ayatollah Shirazi.

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.antituran.info/index.php/component/content/article/20-2009-03-30-16-56-29/396--l-r&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhhBdqbIo07a3rqYfC33t_QVMYpSrA