All hail the King!

Just before New Year, the ruling party of Azerbaijan- YAP- needed one last event to praise the king and praise they did. It was a grand New Year present from Santa YAP. On December 24th, YAP organized an event "Azerbaijan 2013: new targets, new victories". Ruling party members were there, parliament members were there, but just to add a bit of diversity, representatives of international organizations were invited too. I guess without them it would have been a little all- YAP- party. 

You wont be surprised what the guests talked about at this event. Well, if you are reading state newspapers and watching state TV you didn't miss much- a lot of praise here and there and there you have it: another "successful" event of the year in the pocket, ticked, and filed (though I am doubtful about filing). So the usual "toasts" were raised- health, strength, wisdom to the all-mighty king Aliyev and his father. Without them who knows where Azerbaijani would have been today. 

Ali Ahmadov, deputy chairman and executive secretary of the ruling party spoke of a successful year both for the people and the government. Something was mentioned about economic and social progress though not much was said about what that progress specifically was. Then a bit more about success of 2013, all of course under the guidance of the king. As always, Mr. Ahmadov, took the liberty to make a decision on behalf of Azerbaijani people on the subject of elections- every single Azerbaijani will vote for the president therefore, its going to be a 100% victory, just wait and see (sorry folks but you can't decide on your own, nor you are entitled to have an opinion and don't worry even if you decide not to head to the polls, your vote will be used anyway). In another interview Mr. Ahmadov also was quoted saying "It is in the interest of every family and every citizen" that Ilham Aliyev is re-elected in 2013 elections. Oh boy, I guess this is as explicit as it can get- for all those citizens and families who choose not to vote or vote for someone else (if there will be a someone else that is) this can only mean one thing- "winter is coming".

Another member of the ruling party, and the first deputy prime minister Yagub Eyubov, also spoke of social- economic progress, though once again, what that progress was about remained unexplained. Oh, almost forgot, Mr. Eyubov too said none of the progress would have been possible without the all mighty king. He said something about "precise scientific predictions" too, which confused me even more as I didn't know that the late president was Nostradamus or secretly possessed the power of "precise scientific predictions". There is so much to learn from the members of the ruling party. 

Similarly, first deputy speaker of the parliament, Ziyafet Asgarov, mentioned the progress achieved in the country too under the rule of the second kingdom and something about genes, wisdom and more success. This time however, we finally learned more about the achieved progress- democracy, secular state, formation of civil society and protection of human rights.

Shamsaddin Hajiyev, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for education and science didn't forget to hold the king responsible for all the great achievements in the field of economy.

Interesting that the article didn't mention any words of praise from diplomats and internationals attending the event. Perhaps, their opinion was not worth mentioning or maybe not interesting...

I guess at the end, the event guests, all completed a ritual raising their fists up in the air, shouting "All hail the King!"

Head of EU delegation in Azerbaijan talks elections 2013

A wave of angry updates been circulating on social media platforms as of yesterday and today. Azerbaijan's pro- democracy activists are left puzzled (and mostly irritated) following a statement that came yesterday from the head of the EU delegation to Azerbaijan, Roland Kobia. In his comments on the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan that are expected to take place next year, ambassador spoke of a hope for democratic elections. "EU would like to see of course political pluralism, opening of the political space [...]" But it wasn't this part of the statement that frustrated many of the activists at home. "I think President Ilham Aliyev will stand very good chances because he is much known, he has done a good job [...]". 

Now let me tell you that it is one thing to say that the President will stand a very good chance for re-election. This is true, because elections will be violated and there wont be that expected pluralism the Ambassador is so much hopeful for. President Aliyev doesn't stand a good chance for re-election because majority of Azerbaijanis is expected to choose him. It is unrealistic to project such kind of prediction from the point of view of democratic elections and results. 

And coming to the second part of his statement- "he has done a good job"- now that is pushing it a bit too far. I for once, was not expecting to hear such remark come from the head of the delegation. I wonder where does the ambassador see the good? In the poor human rights record? In the number of imprisoned journalists? In corruption? I can go on with the list... Really, where is the good job? 

I share the frustration, and I am very upset to hear such a statement especially from someone I have much respect for. Where does it leave us- the people who want to see democracy in Azerbaijan, who want to see free and fair elections, who want to have corruption free country and future? I know, where we should have been from the very beginning. Whatever change we talk about in the case of Azerbaijan must come from within. International institutions have no leverage over Azerbaijan and so at the end of the day, we should not be surprised. After all, Azerbaijan violated many of its promises it gave upon becoming a member of the Council of Europe but never has it been penalized for its failure in fulfilling many of the promises. 

I don't think calling for Ambassador's resignation is going to change anything. Its a statement that had to be made. Or not?!

Azerbaijan and Eurovision (post no. 19098942093)

Here is a piece of gossip you probably missed watching Eurovision today. A young man, by the name of Rauf Mardiyev sent me a tweet calling me "brainwashed" and "stupid" (indirectly that is, through his tweets) following tweets being sent out throughout the last give or take few years about Azerbaijan, its poor democratic and human rights record, not to mention issues and problems existing with free press, and freedom to speak one's mind. It turns out, Azerbaijan's democracy is limited to only praises and words of gratitude because when it comes to criticism its not all ok. 

Translation: @arzugeybulla Will you write anything positive about this #Eurovision? Why don't you understand (your brain doesn't take it literally), what you are doing is damaging #Azerbaijan in the first place

Now, personally I would love to raise praising words when it comes to Azerbaijan, was there a democracy I would be the first to say cheers! Would there be free press and respect for Azerbaijani journalists, I would be the first to say cheers! But Rauf, as long as none of this exists, people continue going through corrupted universities and schools, patients continue to pay bribes in hospitals and fail to receive proper health care there is nothing to praise this country for. Of course, we might have different perceptions of praise- as you say "thousands like you" see Azerbaijan as a shining beacon of whatever it is that you see it to be but as I have said it already earlier today, I am going to repeat it again- WAKE UP! 

Yes, Eurovision brought us the Crystal Hall, but at what costs? I much rather prefer couple of hundreds thousands spent on our very own pensioners, on the costs of drugs they need to get, make it free or at least equally accessible for all among so many things that could be done to make lives of Azerbaijani people better.

Yes, it is also true that Eurovision brought us the city beautification, but again, at what costs? So you don't care about those Azerbaijanis who still have no water, gas, or electricity constantly running in their homes in villages all the while you and the tens of thousands like you prefer watching Eurovision and indulge yourself in wealth that is not equally distributed, nor equally accessible to other young people like you. 

If you think there is something good to say about Eurovision then talk about illegal evictions our government carried out. You should also talk about beaten, arrested journalists in prisons. Or, wait, I know, you should praise our country for blackmailing, it does it really well. 

You might be one of the hundreds of thousands but the value and weight of spoken truth is so much more than the people like you. You are trying to tell a story backwards but what you are failing to see is that the story was already told, many times and just like me, people who know, know... So if you think that by sending me few tweets as the one above, calling me brainwashed I am going to be ashamed of my actions and become a "different" person then you are mistaken (in fact, I am not sure all together why you send me tweets to this day, didn't way close this subject a while ago when you continuously decided for some reason to take up your issues with me as if I am the only person who writes about our inspirational country?). I choose honesty over whatever it is you live and propagate for.

Maybe after watching this report on Azerbaijan (watch on BBC) you will at least stop harassing me on Twitter. Peace out!

Here are the rest of the tweets we exchanged after the initial one: 

Azerbaijan on Channel 4

UK's Channel 4 prepared this report about Azerbaijan, this year's host of Eurovision song contest. I have just one small comment- Jamal was arrested in March 2012 not 2009. Other than that well done!

'Hypocrisy'

'Hypocrisy' is a short promo video about Azerbaijan and the hidden "treasures" behind Eurovision glitz and glamor.

Azerbaijan's ENP progress report

This is from a recent progress report released by EU on European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and the country progress evaluations. You can read full report here.

Discussing Azerbaijan at Inside and Outside Radio program

Discussing Azerbaijan's domestic political situation, Turkey- Azerbaijan relations, and my own work as a blogger at a radio program "Inside and Outside" in Istanbul earlier this year. You can listen to other interviews that have taken place at the radio here at the show's host- Ekrem Guzeldere's page.

Here is a link where you can hear the full interview.

"Spotlight on Azerbaijan"

This a recent report (May 12, 2012) published by the Foreign Policy Center on Azerbaijan, the country's pressing human rights record, corruption, rule of law, freedom of expression and more. 

 

Spotlight on Azerbaijan

Ah the Eurovision!

Source: Google Images

The Eurovision is fast approaching. The country hosting the competition this year- Azerbaijan- is also fast approaching. You know what? The mere ridiculousness of its current spending allocated to the contest. And we are not talking of few thousand of dollars here. In fact, this country is fast approaching the title of  being one of the few (if not the only since no one would invest so much in a silly song contest) countries in the whole history of the song contest. 

Why? To show- off would be the likely answer (and also because there is no logical one really!). The irony is that while it invests millions (USD75.7 to be precise) in a glitz event of the year, the government continues to keep a tight lid on its other spending like education, health care or social care. But I wont be writing about that this time. Instead, I am going to write about a very "generous contribution"that was allocated to the veterans of the WWII just yesterday. Get ready for the numbers ladies and gents because while we waste millions we cannot afford going over 500AZN [RUS] for the people who really are the heroes (ehm... no offense to Ell and Nikki who are too considered "heroes" by many in Azerbaijan) of this country (the money allocated takes into account families and widows of the veterans). The total amount allocated makes around AZN7.5million. 

I just don't understand why waste so much money on something thats going to last for few days when you can built a better future and provide sufficient support to those who are in need and on constant basis rather than one- time only installments as a sign of noble charity? 

What a silly question though, because no one cares about sustainable development. We should spend more now on useless things like Eurovision so that tomorrow, when we have nothing left, we can take apart the Crystal Hall (Eurovision concert hall) and use it for barter when everyone starts running scared (minus the mountains, the sea, and most importantly the dog) from Azerbaijan...