So where is the development you all talk about?

I came across this photo series on AzadliqRadiosu earlier today as I was browsing news.

It is terrible, it is sad, and it is a reminder and stark contrast to what President Aliyev always LOVES talking about- Azerbaijan's development on all fronts. 

Aliyev often says Azerbaijan is great. Or that Azerbaijan succeeded at this or that. And all too often his minions love to say its because everyone is jealous of Azerbaijan that they keep criticizing the country. 

Well I am pretty darn sure, that noone in Europe or the Western world will be jealous of these pictures.  Or the state of this clinic that supposed to help people in need.

So where is this amazing, wonderful, over the top development that Ilham Aliyev likes to talk about? I do not see it in these pictures, that is for sure.

I dare President Aliyev and his lovely family of fashionistas come and get treated at this clinic

Yes, this is what Europe is jealous of!

Forget about sanitary just think for a moment, we boat of Haydar Aliyev Cultural Centers, Flame Towers, Highest Flag Poles but our Ministry of Health can boast about rotten medical buildings

I dare Azerbaijan's Minister of Health to come and get his teeth done here!

Orbit, infinity, satelite, Ilham

If you thought this is about Toy Story then you are deeply mistaken, if you thought this was about Star Wars you are mistaken once again. After all, what does the name "Ilham" has to do with any of these great movies. Unless of course you translate it as inspiration which might fit the description, but I am going to have to disappoint you again. No, my friends, these are the words of a song dedicated (!) to Azerbaijan's first satellite that slung into space about ten days ago. Yea, we had many songs dedicated to the father, then to his son, and now, we even have a song dedicated to the satellite, but Ilham Aliyev's name had to be mentioned anyway, because, if it wasn't for him, there would have been no satellite to begin with. 

Below is the video and the translation of the lyrics. Enjoy! 

On February the 8th, 2013, 1:36 AM Baku time.
Azerbaijan’s first national satellite was sent into orbit.

Our first national satellite got into orbit.

How can I not be glad, oh, motherland?
And now our voice comes from the cosmos.
Nothing on earth can limit my joy any longer.

With Ilham, we walk towards happy tomorrows,
Heydar’s banner above our heads.
Our first national satellite got into space.
Be joyous, oh, motherland!

Oh, my beloved Azerbaijan,
Her glory/pride spreads around the world.
Every day, new progress, every day, new advances.
This is our country’s strength, its power.
With Ilham, we walk towards bright tomorrows,
Heydar’s banner above our heads.
Our first national satellite got into space.
Be joyous, oh, motherland!
With Ilham, we walk towards happy tomorrows.

Who to blame when there is no one else to blame (part 2): my response to Emil Agazade

After posting this post yesterday, I received a response from Emil Agazade whose comment you can read below the actual post in the comments section. To clarify myself I wrote a response that I shared already in the comments section but also thought to post as a separate post, as I think it brings more clarity so to speak to my originally written post. 

"Hi Emil,

Thank you for reading my blog and taking your time to comment on the post.

In response to you, I am going to try and dissect both of your opinions. I hope this way there will be a tat bit more clarity.

I have read Hamilton's piece. While he might as you say be, "a dedicated campaigner who boasts about visiting Azerbaijan's illegally occupied territories and who does not pass on any opportunity to bash Azerbaijan" (I don't know him personally so I am taking your word for it) he did write credible and truthful things about Azerbaijan. None of the references he made are lies or biased and made up. And frankly speaking, while he might have visited the territories (illegally or not), its not about who he is, but about what he wrote and how he has written it. You see his piece as bashing, while others see it as a critical piece of someone's opinion who is listing known things and known events and naming real people who are currently under threat (and also gives some credit at the end too so he wasn't completely bashing the country).

You on the other hand, are saying that no one is perfect, so to say, and that there are little or no perfect democracies. But who is talking about perfection here? Surely you would accept the truth about the current reality of journalists in Azerbaijan, and many of its threatened journalists, arrested journalists, or journalists who are pending trial. Surely you would also not deny the mere fact that Armenia has nothing to do with the fact that our government is treating its citizens in such a way and ends up being criticized by the international community. Surely you would also accept that having Russia as our neighbor, shouldn't stop Azerbaijani authorities from being a true democracy. It is not about perfection, but it is about basic rights and freedoms.

I agree that quarter of a century is not enough, but something could have been done in a quarter of a century. Think of the number of parliamentary and presidential elections we have had since our independence. Why is it, that in the quarter of the century, we haven't had one single free and fair election. Or will you argue that all our elections were free and fair? Then why is it that we have mastered the principles of corruption and bribery so well in this quarter of the century, but failed profoundly in establishing a democratic state? Could you please explain, then, why is it that our education, healthcare and social care systems have suffered (despite increase in state funding though miniscule to say the least when compared to other sectors) while our ministers only got richer and richer in this quarter of a century?

How come we have mastered fraud in this quarter of the century instead of mastering honesty? 

Given our historical past that you touch upon in your piece- the brief independence, the rights granted to women- we should have been an example by now. But look at where we are. You think I enjoy reading critical pieces like the one by Hamilton, that it gives me pleasure? I am looking forward to a day when my country, your country, our country is actually a place when none of this is happening. Where rights are respected and where no one can say or write any of such things. But, things are different. And not even another quarter of the century is going to change this as long as we have corrupted minds running the country for their own benefit.

I don't care if elections in the UK were rigged, but I do care that elections in Azerbaijan were rigged are rigged to this day. Just because elections elsewhere are rigged, it doesn't give our authorities rights rigging our elections.

I am pretty sure, that having Azerbaijani territories occupied doesn't serve as basis for any rights abuses.

As to the Council of Europe and PACE- if Azerbaijan had a straight human rights record and impeccable history of elections and free society none of these institutions would focus on Azerbaijan this much. You know this as well as I do.

And do you honestly and wholeheartedly believe in this extra powerful Armenian lobby. Alas I am not defending it, but really? Its their fault? Its their fault that we have rigged elections? or its their fault that we have such poor situation with human rights?

Azerbaijan, is capable of doing so much better. And if things were really different at home, I would too promote Azerbaijan but not now, not today, and not tomorrow. Not until there is a real change.

There will always be people like Hamilton. It is our job to make our country a better place so tomorrow people like Hamilton have no arguments left with to criticize our country for. But as long as we find someone or something to blame and not take a responsibility, Hamilton and many others like Hamilton will continue criticizing Azerbaijan... "

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!"

ICT progress in Azerbaijan

It was Vinton Cerf's comment in this article about the decision makers of ICT sector that prompted me to write this post. While writing on the importance of the Internet, Cerf put great emphasis on the closed- door meeting of the International Telecommunication Union that gathered in Dubai earlier this month and which according to Google's Chief Internet Evangelist is an ideal venue for repressive regimes, place more aggressive limitations on the open Internet. He believes these gatherings only limit the use of the Internet further:

"[...] this inter- governmental agency is the wrong place to make decisions about the future of the Internet. Only governments have vote at the ITU. This includes governments that do not support a free and open Internet. Engineers, companies, and people that build and use the web have no vote".

Back to the case of Azerbaijan, and focusing especially on the last part of what Vinton Cerf said about the ITU and decision making, I wonder of the IT developments Azerbaijani government claims to have achieved. According to Ali M. Abbasov, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies the main purpose of public policy in the field of ICT is:

"to provide transition to the information society, create and develop an information and knowledge- based, competitive economy and arrange participation of citizens and social institutions in the management process [...]"

I wonder how much of this policy and IT related developments involve the engineers, companies, and the people that build and use the web and information technologies in decision- making and development process? According to Mr. Abbasov, "naturally great public support, properly defined long- term strategy, and well grounded public policy play an important role in the achievement of these developments" but whether there is an actual call for public support on behalf of the government I doubt.

Azerbaijani government no doubt, sent a large delegation to the ITU event in Dubai, but if we look at the agendas of some of the authoritarian states attending the event ranging from banning anonymity from the web to making it easier to find and arrest the dissidents and etc. the real intentions of Azerbaijani government slightly blur. After all, it is a country where Internet is largely free, and the government is notorious for its crack down on political dissidents even online (given Internet is considered as part of mass media, recently the authorities been thinking of passing a law that would impose restrictions on websites with "obscene" and "anti-national" content). But I wont get into details of Azerbaijan's ICT sector. For more information on this you can read Open Net Initiative's country report. 

I will just like to get back to the original point/question- how involved are the people outside of the government in decision making of information and technologies that affect everybody?

Azerbaijan, the land of...

We all saw tonight (26th of May) that Azerbaijan is the land of many things- fire, energy, friendships, lights and much more. Baku looked modern, full of life, comfort and luxury. The footage from various regions showed mountains, rivers, museums, carpets... But what audience didn't get to see is the real state of the country that just spent 800million on a kitsch Eurovision contest while its regions remain without water, electricity, gas and other key infrastructural needs. 

A report below prepared by Al Jazeera (with accompanied article) looks in just one of these problems- water issues and provision across the country with a focus on just one of the many places where people live with limited access to water. 

Interview with Ilham Aliyev with Frost over the world

I came across this video thanks to 'Aaron in Azerbaijan' blog post as I was doing research on a topic that might sound all too familiar for some of you- Azerbaijan's so- called lobby activities abroad for pampering its image and its influence. 

The president of Azerbaijan, easily brushes of questions raised on Azerbaijan's poor human rights record and its freedom of expression track. The ease in his words as he scrutinizes criticisms raised by international organizations leaves the viewers and those who follow news closely stunned if not astonished.    "In most cases we ignore them" says the President when responding to the question on how Azerbaijan deals with some of the criticisms from abroad on its human rights situation and what not. 

Be the judge yourself though, and draw your own conclusions from this video. 

A reality check...

My last two visits to Brussels  shaped up a rather clear vision of where EU stands in its relation to our region and Azerbaijan in particular. Conclusion drawn: my country, nor this region is a number one priority for international institutions, at least not when their interests are not at stake.

In a way, I am thankful to the honesty I saw in Brussels and yet I am frustrated at the same time. EU's biggest concert at the moment is the monetary crisis (surprise! surprise!). That is all parliament members talk about (more or less) and all they really care. Any discussion outside of this issue- including currently popular topics like visa- free travel/ visa facilitation are not of interest, let alone talk and lobbying on democracy building, human rights, freedom of expression and more.

In case of Azerbaijan, the situation is even clearer- "as long as Azerbaijan has oil and gas, no 'sticks' would be used" as having heating in their homes, is just as fair and a human right for every European citizen relying on Azerbaijan's natural resources (so who cares if people get arrested when Europeans are warm in their homes). 

To my surprise, things got even better, when during one of the meetings, a speaker suggested looking at all mighty mother Russia and asking for "democratic sticks" on its behalf towards Azerbaijan, especially as Europe will continue its cooperation with Azerbaijan no matter what.

For so many times now, I have been hearing the very same tune, that Azerbaijan presents a challenge and not an easy one. This challenge however, is not about improving the overall situation in the country and pushing the local government towards more democracy but rather to play it so well, that Azerbaijan is not pissed off and doesn't suddenly cut back its oil and gas delivery. As one of the officials mentioned "Azerbaijan makes it difficult for us to apply stricter rules because of oil and gas and that is a fact".

Yes, facts are facts, and reality is what it is. What is not clear is the whole basis and philosophy of such institutions. If European Neighborhood Policy is all about stability, prosperity and democracy, why then officials in Europe prefer looking the other way, only to resemble the "three wise monkeys"? 

Facts are facts, reality is what it is. If Azerbaijan is going to change, this change must and ought only come from within. The question is, will it be possible. Lets hope it is, sooner than later...

The new Baku, demolishing and “beautifying”

This is an article I recently wrote for Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso.

The women in a video recently posted on Rfe/Rl website are desperately screaming protesting violation of their rights; a man in the background shouts “şərəfsiz” [AZ] (without dignity); the building hosting the offices of the human rights organization “Institute for Peace and Democracy” and two other NGOs is being demolished. The whole scene resembles chaos. Young men start demolishing the building in front of desperate people that look helplessly at the scene, then cranes intervene.

This demolition is part of an urban development project- a new park known as the ‘Winter Boulevard’. Angered men and women in this video are residents of this old neighborhood of Baku that is being destroyed. They were not alone in protesting against the demolition of this building. The UN high commissioner for human rights expressed concern regarding this event, while the European Union representative in Baku and Human Rights Watch openly condemned the demolition. 

“Beautifying” the city comes at high costs 

The ‘Winter Boulevard’ project is said to be under the supervision of the first lady, Mehriban Aliyeva. Nonetheless, the authorities don't seem to care about answering to the questions and demands of the local residents forcefully evicted from their homes. The body in charge of the demolition is the Baku City Council, however, its officials remain silent about the issue. The area envisaged for the construction of this project is partially a historical district of an old Baku with some of the buildings dating as far as to the 19^th century. Besides, the majority of destroyed buildings that carried historical significance were supposed to be protected according to a decision previously adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers.

And yet, neither demands by local resident nor history seem to matter for the local authorities. The demolition of this area situated between two main streets, Shamsi Badalbayli and Fuzuli, began in 2010. The residents were each offered 1500manat/ square meter (US1,900). However, unsatisfied with the offer  (the amount doesn’t meet the present day value of these properties) residents took the matters into their own hands and headed to the Presidential Administration office (February 2010). Unable to get any results there, they then decided to try to protest in the streets (February 2010) only to be dispersed by the local police. In March the frustrated residents decided to hold a conference at the Human Rights House. Their attempts continued with a hunger strike in the courtyard of one of the old buildings scheduled for its demolition. Nothing worked and according to the Rfe/Rl local service some of the evictions and relocations were carried out without an official paper except for a 2008 decision, which interestingly calls for an execution of 1987 plan issued by the Council of Ministers of Azerbaijan SSR on the construction of the Winter Boulevard.

Last year, Osservatorio published an article describing some of the most worrying features of the construction boom: Baku’s location on an active seismic zone; absence of a general urban and development plans for the city; demolition of Baku’s historically significant buildings and old residential districts; un-notified and forced evictions; unequal compensation packages and much more. In fact, little changed in year. 

 

New Baku with its slowly fading beauty

Little is left from a city that was once home to the likes of “Ali and Nino”, the oil barons and its pathways. Baku is now a booming capital of construction, pricey real estate, luxury cars and boutiques- at a glance a city of wealth and stature. Its future is guaranteed by the country’s “black gold” with no one questioning the sustainability of these developments and constant changes to the capital’s landscape as a result of new construction projects. Rapid growth in the real estate market brought to the development of some the most extravagant construction projects in the last decade. 

Some of these over-the-top projects include Baku White City project, which involved re-construction of the main downtown area, adding ten new districts and with a total development area of 221ha. Its partners include names like UK’s ATKINS, F&A Architects, and Foster and Partners. According to the developers the project includes 440,000 sq.m of office space, 230,000 sq.m of retail space, 3,600,000 sq.m of residential space and 530,000 sq.m of commercial space. 

In the meantime while the local authorities indulge themselves in these copious ideas, according to a Human Rights Watch report, residents are forced out of their homes in the middle of the night, and detained while their homes are being destroyed with most of their personal belongings, either damaged or missing. Interestingly, based on the country’s property code [AZ], the state can only seize or purchase property if it’s planning to build a new road, a railway, or military building. Also, according to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers a legal contract must be signed with the property owner; the owner given 90 days notice; and provided with transportation during the re-location. Moreover, there is even a Presidential Decree from 2007 stating that the owner shall be paid 20% more of the market price in order for the landowner stay satisfied.

Time for real change? 

While some might say that coming first in the Eurovision song contest this year in Düsseldorf was a great success for Azerbaijan, it is yet to be seen how the country’s leadership will choose to improve its image abroad. Having lavish boutique shops that cater only for the country’s small percentage of nouveau riche certainly does not mean democracy or fair distribution of oil revenues. Nor does it stand for addressing the needs and demands of the public at large let alone those suffering from the loss of their homes. 

The transformation of this capital city into a glamorous metropolis no doubt means much for investment hungry contractors and companies, however, perhaps it is also time to look at the destruction caused by these up- scale developments especially as they seem to come at the cost of lives and homes of ordinary people.

SOCAR's new plans

According to an article on Trend, the State Oil Company otherwise known to many as SOCAR intends reconstruction work of some of the country's old gas pipelines, construction of new ones and even improving gas supply to the regions. These new plans are part of the State Program on Azerbaijan's socio- economic development for 2009- 2013.

Under the program, Azerigaz (SOCAR's Production Unit) is instructed to construct and reconstruct main gas pipelines, improve gas supplies to the regions, new settlements, and to rehabilitate and reconstruct facilities for electrochemical protection of main gas pipelines and the electricity sector.

Sounds awful lot to me, especially if its completion date is set for 2013, but who knows, perhaps with a stroke of a miracle, our far out villages will to see gas in their homes, stop using wood and coal for heating and Azerbaijani children will have heating in their village schools and things will start getting better?

Who knows... we shall see in few years... 

Azerbaijan's never ending insane development projects

If Azerbaijan was a place where people lived in full equality, where journalists had their full rights, where social welfare was at its best and everything was just fine, I would have probably applauded this project. But in a country where minimum salaries can't cover living costs and where freedom of expression, human rights, social protection programs, education, health care and other services are literally collapsing this is for sure a waste of money. And don't tell me Azerbaijani people need this- what Azerbaijani citizen living in a a village in Lenkoran needs, is a proper sewage system, heating and electricity, not to mention a salary and conditions good enough to keep his/her family happy and healthy. Perhaps instead of commissioning these over-the-top initiatives, our respective bodies of governance should channel this money to at least some of the multiple problems that actually are more important at this point than building an Olympic Stadium?!

The time has come...

Dear Mr. President,

The time has come… Not to disrespect your people, not to punish them for their demands, not to humiliate, not to kill, not to arrest, not to crush but listen…

The time has come to embrace the youth that is passionate and determined to live in a country that represents democracy and freedom, where values of humanity are taught in schools and where no one is punished for speaking out…

Azerbaijan is rich- its history, its culture, its arts, its music, its people… Azerbaijan is also rich with bright minds, golden hands, and creative souls… This is the richness and the gold that should be cherished. Yes, Azerbaijan is also rich in oil and gas, but this treasure means nothing for these very bright minds, golden hands, and creative souls.

It doesn’t mean anything for a retired teacher- Huseyn, who can barely afford his medicine. It doesn’t mean anything, for a little girl- Melek, whose family is struggling with affording schoolbooks and other appliances. It doesn’t mean anything, for a medical student- Sevinc, who is crippled by her very own professors just for the sake of extra 50 or 100 dollars (or manats) if not more. It doesn’t mean anything, for a young boy- Sanan, living in a village in Lenkoran, who doesn’t know that girls too have a right to education, work and an independent life or that he cannot decide for the faith of his younger sister.

Look around yourself Mr. President. Look at how many lives you have ruined by not reaching out, refusing to listen and shutting up.

Forget about all those fake smiles, applauds, praises that greet you at places you go. They are not there because they adore you. They are there because they are told to be there.  They are there because they were threatened to be there. You think, an 80-year-old woman, shaking your hand at an opening ceremony of yet another Olympic center, and praising all that you have done for her and her family is out of love? At best, its out of hope, that maybe, you will indeed help, that maybe, behind those elegant suites, stands a man, who truly cares for his people…

Dear Mr. President, you are capable of many things- with one phone call, a man or a woman can get arrested, with one stroke of an eye, someone can lose their life, with one gesture, someone could get lucky or not. Why can’t you treat your people well instead? Why do you keep your people in fear, anger and pain?

True, there is an army behind you- thousands if not more of people who have nothing more but an empty soul, brainwashed, re-programmed and ready to serve you- your personal army of thugs- men in plain cloths or animals who do not fear anything. It is true, that with just that one order, you could unleash them but why? You would not need them if you treated your countrymen well!

Isn’t it enough? The money and the greed have gotten everyone surrounding you rich and capable of doing anything they want. They own mansions, cars, bank accounts abroad; their wives only wear couture and their children live lives that would only be a dream for all those children living across the country in poor households. Where is justice in this? Why do some need to suffer while others only get to live better at the expense of those very pensioners, or teachers, or doctors, or students?

Dear Mr. President- you can arrest/torture/kill/belittle all of the Azerbaijani youth (of course, except those who are loyal to you and only) but greed will eventually end in destruction… All that we – the youth- want is what you speak of all too often in your televised addresses- equal and sustainable development, democracy, respect for human rights and freedom of expression- but not in just empty words and non- existent examples…

No longer can Azerbaijan hide behind the facades that are carefully built to hide lies, secrets, shady businesses, corruption, bribes, and much more… How many more people's lives you plan on ruining? Haven't you had enough?! You have made a tyrant out of yourself and the regime that is ruling this country. No point in dismissing international reports just because they propagate truth. Its not a secret anymore so no need to fool anyone with silly statements and baseless arguments...