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

    Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the impact of falling oil and commodities prices on resource-exporting countries. In mid-January, protests in Azerbaijan against price hikes and a collapse in the country’s currency were broken up forcefully by security forces, resulting in the arrest of 55 people. In an email interview, Richard D. Kauzlarich, the co-director of the Center for Energy Science and Policy at George Mason University who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan from 1994 to 1997, explains the impact of the collapse of global energy prices on Azerbaijan’s economy. WPR: [...]


    After ‘Wasted’ Boom Years, Azerbaijan Pays the Price of Energy-Revenue Dependency
    The Editors Monday, Jan. 25, 2016
    \
    In mid-January, protests in Azerbaijan against price hikes and a collapse in the country’s currency were broken up forcefully by security forces, resulting in the arrest of 55 people. In an email interview, Richard D. Kauzlarich, the co-director of the Center for Energy Science and Policy at George Mason University who also served as the U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan from 1994 to 1997, explains the impact of the collapse of global energy prices on Azerbaijan’s economy.

    WPR: How important are commodities for Azerbaijan’s economy, and what effect have falling commodities prices had on public spending and, by consequence, political stability?

    Richard D. Kauzlarich: Despite President Ilham Aliyev’s claims to the contrary, the current state of the Azerbaijani economy reflects two decades of dependence on energy earnings based on the coincidence of high energy prices and peak production from existing oil and gas deposits. If there was growth in the non-oil sector, it was fed by energy earnings transferred to the construction, banking and telecommunications sectors. This was made evident when, after oil prices fell by more than 50 percent, Azerbaijan was forced to devalue its currency, the manat, to curb the hemorrhage of foreign exchange. Emergency actions were also needed to shore up failing banks and prevent public panic, as citizens sought to withdraw deposits for foreign exchange. Resulting social unrest provoked a couple of Cabinet meetings to discuss recalculating the budget based on oil prices that have now dipped to below $30 a barrel. A flurry of presidential “orders” also introduced a series of 10-percent increases in pensions and other wages, and price controls designed to counter spreading popular unease over the rise in prices of basic commodities like bread.

    WPR: How effectively did Azerbaijan use the revenue windfalls of the commodities boom to develop infrastructure and address poverty and social welfare issues?

    Kauzlarich: It is unclear how much income Azerbaijan has realized from the energy sector over the past two decades, or how it was spent. Combined revenues over that period probably topped $100 billion. Much went to increased defense expenditures—the regime proudly proclaims Azerbaijan’s defense budget exceeds the entire budget of Armenia; and to mega-construction projects like the Flame Towers, the Heydar Aliyev Center and the Baku Olympic Stadium. Some has gone to road infrastructure, mainly connected with the 2015 Euro Games sites, as well as to port and rail improvements. The remainder has filtered into the hands of the ruling elite through corrupt businesses—especially in the construction, banking and telecoms sectors—and other arrangements. These illicit flows run in the range of tens of billions of dollars. A limited trickle-down effect from all this revenue created a false sense of prosperity in Baku. But behind the walls that line the road from the Baku airport into town, and in the country’s outlying regions, very little of this windfall was seen or felt by most of the population.

    WPR: What steps has Azerbaijan taken to diversify its economy?

    Kauzlarich: The only cited figures come from government sources. Yet the dramatic impact of the decline in energy prices over the past year on the economy reflects the fact that there has been no significant diversification in export earnings. Diversification in the economy as a whole has come in the construction, banking, high-end retail, tourism and telecoms sectors, which rely on energy-generated resources. The severe crisis in the banking sector shows how fragile the non-energy sector is, and how dependent it is on energy flows. In sum, Azerbaijan wasted a decade of high energy earnings. Rather than diversifying the economy, the money went to defense procurement, prestige projects—and massive corruption.
    General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

    Comment


    • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

      About 300 employees of the Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Company Ltd. (AIMROC) protested outside Parliament in Baku Monday saying they have not been paid for 21 months.


      Azerbaijan: Gold Mine Workers Protest Lack of Salary
      Print article Published: Monday, 25 January 2016 18:24
      General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

      Comment


      • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

        The Azerbaijani government’s unrelenting crackdown is decimating the country’s once vibrant community of independent nongovernmental organizations and media, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2016.


        Azerbaijan: Unprecedented Government Crackdown
        Need International Pressure to Free Rights Defenders

        (Berlin) – The Azerbaijani government’s unrelenting crackdown is decimating the country’s once vibrant community of independent nongovernmental organizations and media, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2016.

        Courts have sentenced leading human rights defenders and other government critics to long prison terms in politically motivated, unfair trials. Dozens more face harassment and prosecution, and the authorities have denied entry to international human rights monitors and journalists. The crackdown escalated in 2015 and continued as Baku hosted the first European Games in June. Azerbaijan’s international partners struggled to find a unified response to the crackdown.

        “The government’s crackdown in Azerbaijan is unprecedented in the country’s post-Soviet history,” said Giorgi Gogia, South Caucasus director at Human Rights Watch. “Although the government is opening the country for international sporting and other events, it’s closing the country to human rights scrutiny.”

        In the 659-page World Report 2016, its 26th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth writes that the spread of terrorist attacks beyond the Middle East and the huge flows of refugees spawned by repression and conflict led many governments to curtail rights in misguided efforts to protect their security. At the same time, authoritarian governments throughout the world, fearful of peaceful dissent that is often magnified by social media, embarked on the most intense crackdown on independent groups in recent times.

        Among those handed prison sentences ranging from six to eight-and-a-half years are the human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev, the veteran human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus, the prominent investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, and the human rights campaigner Rasul Jafarov. Others imprisoned on politically motivated charges include the Azadlig columnist Seymur Haziyev, and opposition party activists Siraj and Faraj Kerimlis, and Murad Adilov. Taleh Khasmammadov, a human rights activist, was sentenced to three years.

        In December, an appeal court released the Yunuses on five years probation because of their serious health ailments.

        But Ilgar Mammadov, a political analyst, and Tofig Yagublu, a journalist, remained in prison, despite the European Court of Human Rights finding that their detentions are unlawful. Anar Mammadli, who headed an independent monitoring group, is serving a five-and-a-half-year sentence.

        In addition to banning several international monitors and journalists from entering the country during 2015, the government forced the closure of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE)’s Baku office. The OSCE for the first time refused to send an observation mission to Azerbaijan’s parliamentary elections, citing the restrictions on the mission.

        The European Union continues to negotiate a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan without preconditioning the talks on fundamental improvements in human rights or the release of jailed human rights defenders and journalists.

        Several Council of Europe institutions spoke out strongly about the crackdown, but failed for the most part to impose any consequences. Finally in December, the Council of Europe’s secretary general, Thorbjørn Jagland, announced an inquiry into Azerbaijan’s implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights. He said it was triggered by European Court of Human Rights findings on “an arbitrary application of the law in Azerbaijan, notably in order to silence critical voices and limit freedom of speech.”

        “The absence of serious international response to Azerbaijan’s draconian crackdown undermines European human rights standards,” Gogia said. “International entities, in particular the European Union and its members, should develop a consistent strategy to get the Azerbaijani government to carry out its human rights obligations.”
        General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

        Comment


        • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs



          Azerbaijan Rushes to Shut Banks Before Law on Insuring Deposits
          Zulfugar Agayev
          January 27, 2016 — 12:40 PM EST

          Azerbaijan closed down two more private lenders, bringing to six the total number of banks shuttered in the past 10 days before parliament approves a law on insuring retail deposits in full.
          The central bank on Wednesday revoked the licenses of Atrabank ASC and Qafqaz Inkisaf Banki ASC, also known as Caucasus Development Bank, for failing to meet a minimum capital requirement of 50 million manat ($31.3 million). It said the lenders couldn’t meet their requirements to creditors and their management wasn’t “reliable or prudential.”
          Authorities are culling the banking industry to keep it immune to contagion from a currency crisis roiling the economy of the third-largest oil exporter in the former Soviet Union. The collapse in crude prices has sent the manat to the weakest on record after the central bank relinquished control of the exchange rate last month. Azerbaijan imposed some restrictions on the movement of capital last week and announced plans to insure all retail deposits, with central bank Governor Elman Rustamov saying that five to seven banks may be merged to consolidate the industry.
          “The reason for this rush is clear,” Samir Aliyev, an analyst at the Economic Research Center in the Azeri capital, Baku, said on Facebook. “The central bank is trying to decide the fate of banks before parliament approves a law next month to insure bank deposits fully. The government doesn’t want to return in full the deposits of banks that are going to be closed.”
          Mergers, Closures
          License withdrawals have purged more than a tenth of Azerbaijan’s banks, with two other lenders announcing plans to merge their operations on Monday.
          Three other major Azeri lenders -- Pasha Bank, Kapital Bank and Atabank -- are also discussing a merger, the news website Report reported on Tuesday, citing a person it didn’t identify.
          Parliament is set to discuss legislative changes on deposit insurance after returning from its winter recess Feb. 1. Current rules guarantee protection to savings accounts holding as much as 30,000 manat and paying no more than 12 percent annually.
          Fitch Ratings last week estimated the share of dollar-denominated deposits at Azeri lenders at 75 percent of the total.
          President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday pushed the central bank to act quickly to streamline the financial industry. He urged banks to invest in the real economy to help create new jobs and develop the non-oil industry.
          “Banks that don’t meet requirements and have major shortcomings can’t operate in Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said in comments broadcast on the state television channel AzTV.
          General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

          Comment


          • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs



            Azerbaijan’s Finance Minister: ‘We don’t take loans from anyone – we have sufficient foreign exchange reserves’

            You sure about that???



            Oil Producer Azerbaijan in Talks for International Aid
            By AIDA SULTANOVA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
            BAKU, Azerbaijan — Jan 28, 2016, 6:29 AM ET

            Representatives of organizations including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are in Azerbaijan to discuss financial support for the oil producing country's ailing economy.
            The ex-Soviet nation in the Caucasus has been hit hard by the sharp drop in prices of its oil and gas exports over the last year.

            Zaur Rzayev, spokesman for the World Bank's local office, says the IMF and World Bank are "are discussing both immediate and longer-term measures."

            The World Bank is offering $1 billion in financial support to Azerbaijan, a government official told The Associated Press, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will seek to help the private sector. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing.

            James Ellingworth in Moscow contributed to this report.



            Some of the comments are brilliant:



            "Bailing out the Aliyev family which must have 4bn on their offshore bank accounts is incredible. When do they stop putting "Azerbaidjan, Land of fire" on football jerseys and organising lavish sport competitions?"


            "IMF agrees to help, 4bln$ comes in, it is sucked out of the country by the corrupt ministers through various channels where it will not be taxed at 20%, nation pays interests on loans, situation gets worse. Better leave it this way."



            "IMF and World bank are just wasting time and good money to rescue the Azeri Gov't and Family leadership
            The masses, based on news reports, are suffering while a few are benefiting.
            Why bail out the few Wealthy?
            Hold free elections, end corruption and then discuss a bailout with very tight controls and know where the money goes."

            "free elections should be the condition of a loan"
            Last edited by Joseph; 01-28-2016, 05:36 AM.
            General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

            Comment


            • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

              Originally posted by Joseph View Post
              "Azerbaidjan, Land of fire"
              As long oil prices will stay under $40, won't be long now before it will be called "Azerbaidjan, Land on fire"

              Comment


              • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                Azerbaijan: Is Taleh Bagir-zade Baku’s Sheikh Al-Nimr?
                January 26, 2016

                EurasiaNet Commentary




                The Muslim world continues to reverberate from the shock created by Saudi Arabia’s early January execution of Baqr al-Nimr, a dissident Shia cleric. Meanwhile, another outspoken Shia cleric, Taleh Bagir-zade, sits behind bars in Azerbaijan.

                Bagir-zade was arrested ostensibly for his role in the recent deadly clashes between the police and activists of the Muslim Unity Movement of Azerbaijan – the closest thing the Caspian nation has to an organized “Islamist” opposition.

                The Saudi execution of al-Nimr and its aftermath offer Azerbaijani leaders some sobering lessons as they deal with their own “Shia” challenge.

                It is not the first time Bagir-zade finds himself in the crosshairs of Azerbaijani authorities – in fact, it was only last July that he was released from prison after serving two-and-a-half-year sentence on what were widely seen as trumped-up drug-related charges. His fiery denunciations of the Aliyev administration were a more likely reason for his imprisonment.

                In his willingness to attack entrenched authorities head on, Bagir-zade resembles al-Nimr. Unlike the more politically quietist traditional Shia clergy, such as the Najaf-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, both Bagir-zade and al-Nimr belong to a politically assertive strand of Shiism in the mold of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

                While Bagir-zade, like al-Nimr, opposes authoritarianism, neither of them is a liberal democrat. As a WikiLeaks-summarized conversation in 2008 between a US diplomat and al-Nimr shows, the cleric was supportive of the Iranian system of governance.

                Bagir-zade has been more circumspect in his public statements about politics since his release in July. He acknowledges that, at this juncture, Azerbaijan is not ready to become an Islamic republic, but neither did he say he opposed the Iranian system. In fact, he has also publicly noted that Azerbaijan was ruled by Sharia law up until the 19th century, while stopping short of calling for its re-introduction. Overall, the uncompromising tone of his sermons and public statements, including his comparison of President Ilham Aliyev with the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, leaves little doubt about his position.

                If al-Nimr and Bagir-zade have a lot in common in terms of religious-political outlook and style, so do/did their jailers. On the surface, of course, a Wahhabi monarchy like Saudi Arabia and a secular republic like Azerbaijan seem to have little in common. However, similarities abound in the way the leaders of the respective states wield power. Both have a dynastic political structure – officially in Saudi Arabia and de-facto in Azerbaijan. Both deal with dissent rather harshly, although to differing degrees: unlike Saudi Arabia, where beheadings are routine, the death penalty has long since been abolished in Azerbaijan. And since both depend disproportionally on the export of hydrocarbons, collapsing oil prices augur growing fiscal difficulties for Riyadh and Baku. This, in turn, threatens to upset the existing social contracts in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, in which the government provides a modicum of security, stability and prosperity in exchange for obedience. Whatever the official rhetoric, al-Nimr and Bagir-zade are seen as threats not because of their pro-Iranian leanings, but because they have given voice to popular frustrations. They represent a populist challenge to the entrenched elites in Baku and Riyadh. The challenge is particularly dangerous now, at a time when the regimes’ ability to deliver on their end of the social contract is strained.

                Saudi Arabia has chosen to deal with the challenge by executing the troublesome cleric and escalating a regional crisis. Riyadh knew full well the kind of outrage the execution of al-Nimr would provoke in Tehran and in Shia communities throughout the Persian Gulf region. Yet Saudi leaders consciously decided to escalate, in part to deflect the attention of Saudis from the looming economic difficulties.

                Dwindling financial resources and the lack of international diplomatic and military backing prevent Baku from embarking on a similar path. Two recent developments – the Russia-Turkey feud, and the Iranian-Saudi crisis sparked by al-Nimr’s execution – pose major challenges for Baku, which needs to tread carefully so as not to rile its powerful neighbors at a time when it is feeling economic pain.

                Compounding fiscal uncertainty with a diplomatic crisis would be the last thing Azerbaijan needs at this time. Therefore, given the sensitivity shown in Iran to the fate of Shia clerics, authorities in Baku would be wise to approach Bagir-zade in the exact opposite way that the Saudis dealt with al-Nimr. If there are legitimate grounds to prosecute Bagir-zade for a crime, then he should be granted a fair trial. Otherwise, he should be released.

                Overall, the fast-developing economic storm that is spreading across Azerbaijan could be a blessing for the Aliyev administration, providing a push for it to address several problem areas. The government could start with implementing long-overdue structural economic reforms, resetting relations with the European Union and the United States, and carrying out a carefully managed political liberalization involving the release of the political prisoners.

                If managed skillfully and in the right sequence, such reforms could set Azerbaijan on a more promising trajectory. And, ultimately, such reforms likely would be more effective than outright repression in limiting political influence of such rabble-rousing clerics as Bagir-zade.

                Editor's note: Eldar Mamedov is a political adviser to the Socialists & Democrats Group in the European Parliament. He writes in his personal capacity.

                Comment


                • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                  Since its announcement, the European Grand Prix being held in Baku, Azerbaijan has raised eyebrows.


                  Why Azerbaijan? That’s the question that has swept through the F1 series since Azerbaijan was announced as the location for the Baku European Grand Prix.

                  Since its announcement, the Baku European Grand Prix has raised eyebrows.

                  To begin with, Azerbaijan, the country in which the city of Baku is located, sits on the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Technically, it’s still Europe, but any further east and you’ll hit Turkmenistan, and after that you’re only two stone’s throw away from China.

                  Of course, a European country is still part of Europe no matter how far east or west it happens to be. So any criticism of the race’s geographical location should be met with suspicion.

                  But why Baku, Azerbaijan?

                  It could be hypothesized that the location was chosen for the Euro GP because of the country’s large amount of wealth.

                  It is considered by many to be one of the most important oil exploration spots in the world, Azerbaijan’s oil industry pumping large amounts of money into the country’s economy, so much so that it is now nestled nicely in the top 100 richest countries in the world.

                  Whether this translates into Bernie Ecclestone wanting to rub shoulders with the oil tycoons of Azerbaijan can be disputed. But it would be foolish to ignore the possibility of Baku simply being chosen because Azerbaijan has deep pockets.

                  But is this so different to any of the other locations Formula One visits?

                  Not at all, as all of the Grands Prix are held in economically stable countries, financially capable of putting on a great race.

                  Why Baku was chosen specifically is anyone’s guess, as whatever deal was made behind closed doors will no doubt remain secret for the foreseeable future. The government of Azerbaijan no doubt offered Formula One what no other country could, whether that be a large sum of money or merely a venue to stage the race.

                  But Azerbaijan being chosen to host the Euro GP does reveal a rather alarming trend.

                  Since 2004 we have had a number of new additions to the Formula One calendar, race locations that are beautiful and spectacular in every sense of the word.

                  However, many of them have another thing in common, they are human rights abusers.

                  China, Bahrain, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Mexico, and Azerbaijan all fare terribly in the World Press Freedom Index, China for instance, ranking 176 out of 180 countries.

                  Similar results can be found in the Human Rights Watch 2016 World Report, all the countries listed above accused of committing serious human rights violations.

                  This has not gone unnoticed, and when asked why Azerbaijan has been added to the Formula One calendar despite these damning reports, Ecclestone had this to say:

                  I think everybody seems to be happy… There doesn’t seem to be any big problem (in Azerbaijan).

                  Ecclestone is no expert in human rights law, so his opinion shouldn’t be taken seriously. But it shouldn’t be ignored either.

                  This man ‘runs the show’, he dictates where our sport is carried out, and it seems his ethical compass may be out of whack. That, or his ‘advisors’ should be fired.


                  Of course, we should give a country a chance to redeem itself, but only reward it after it has done so. Yet Formula One seems intent on doing it the other way around, the wrong way around.

                  As such, it doesn’t matter why Azerbaijan was chosen, it shouldn’t have been chosen in the first place.
                  General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

                  Comment


                  • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                    Oil crisis takes shine off Azerbaijan's lavish sports events

                    Feb. 2, 2016
                    Reuters


                    MOSCOW: When oil exporter Azerbaijan signed up to host its first ever
                    Formula One Grand Prix this year along an esplanade in its capital,
                    the government promoted it as an opportunity to showcase the country's
                    new confidence.

                    Now, with the economy in a state of crisis and police in some parts of
                    the country using tear gas to disperse protesters, a sporting
                    extravaganza that attracts the world's super-rich is jarring with the
                    public mood.

                    "It would be better if the government used this money on local
                    businesses. We will run out of oil one day," Vugar, a manager at a
                    cafe in the capital, Baku, said of the Grand Prix that takes place in
                    June.

                    Azerbaijan's penchant for lavishly hosting high-profile events -
                    previous examples were the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 and the
                    inaugural European Games last year - has prompted questions about
                    whether the government is mismanaging the economy.

                    Political opponents say the events are intended mainly to glorify the
                    government of President Ilham Aliyev, who took over from his father
                    Heydar, a Soviet-era Communist Party boss who ruled until his death in
                    2003.

                    Similar questions are being asked in other oil producing countries,
                    from Kazakhstan to Algeria and Venezuela, where the decline in the
                    price of crude to its lowest level in 12 years has slashed budget
                    revenues and hobbled economic growth.

                    In Azerbaijan's case, economic managers have taken some prudent
                    decisions. The country committed early to putting some oil revenues in
                    a rainy-day fund, which is cushioning the economy now. During the good
                    times, there was investment in important infra-structure, including in
                    roads.

                    But the International Monetary Fund has for years been saying the
                    government should show more fiscal discipline and do more to develop
                    the non-oil economy by tackling corruption and informal monopolies
                    that stifle competition.

                    SHOWCASE

                    When the Grand Prix comes to Baku on 17-19 June, drivers such as Lewis
                    Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel will race along Oilmen Prospect, on the
                    banks of the Caspian Sea, then loop around Baku's Old City, a United
                    Nations World Heritage Site.

                    The price listed on the Formula One website for a ticket in the main
                    grandstand over the three-day race weekend is US$665, more than twice
                    the average monthly salary in Azerbaijan of 460 manats (US$287).

                    Authorities say the event, broadcast around the world, will help
                    showcase Baku as a modern city with a rich heritage, and promote
                    long-term economic growth.

                    "A Formula One race will improve our country's image. When we took an
                    obligation to host this event two years ago, we could not forecast
                    such a sharp decline in the oil price," Vakhid Akhmedov, a lawmaker
                    with the ruling party and a member of the parliamentary economic
                    commission, told Reuters.

                    "But Azerbaijan has enough currency reserves and I don't think there
                    is anything bad about spending some of this money on such an important
                    project," Akhmedov said.

                    Grand Prix hosts typically pay fees to the sport's commercial rights
                    holder for the privilege of having the race, but contract details are
                    a closely guarded secret. The size of the fees varies, with
                    traditional European venues paying less than newcomers.

                    Azerbaijan's state budget contains an allocation of 324 million Azeri
                    manats (US$202 million) for hosting international sporting events in
                    2016. Though it does not break the sum down by event, the only ones
                    this year are Formula One and an international chess competition.

                    The combined sum is about the same as Azerbaijan plans to spend in
                    2016 on keeping hospitals running for its population of 9.5 million
                    people, according to a finance ministry presentation.

                    Figures are not available for how much Azerbaijan spent hosting the
                    2012 Eurovision song contest, staged in a brand new sports arena
                    called Baku Crystal Hall.

                    According to official information, construction of a stadium where the
                    opening and closing ceremonies for last year's European games were
                    held cost 640 million manats (US$400 million). The stadium is now used
                    for football matches.

                    Hasan Quliyev, a taxi driver in Baku, said the Baku Grand Prix is
                    already causing disruption, because streets in the city centre are
                    closed for renovation to prepare them for the event.

                    "Our authorities lead us into poverty and spend millions on this event
                    which will probably improve their own image, but not the image of our
                    country," said Quliyev.

                    (US$1=1.6 manats)
                    General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”

                    Comment


                    • Re: Azerbaijan - Internal Political Affairs

                      Azerbaijan arrests eight for joining ISIS in Syria, Iraq



                      BAKU, Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan has arrested eight men for fighting alongside ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the majority-Muslim Caucasus nation's authorities said Friday.

                      The men, all Azeri nationals, "were trained in Islamic State (ISIS) training camps in 2012-2015 and took part in fighting in Syria and Iraq within the ranks of terrorist groups," the national security ministry said in a statement.

                      Fighting in foreign wars is a criminal offense in the predominantly Muslim but secular country of more than 9 million people.

                      Local media had previously reported numerous cases of Azerbaijani nationals fighting alongside extremists in Syria and Iraq, including within the ranks of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar consisting mostly of Islamists from the former Soviet Union.

                      In September, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Nusra Front.

                      Around 25,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 countries are involved in armed conflicts worldwide, with the highest numbers in Syria, Iraq and increasingly Libya, according to United Nations.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X