Azerbaijan to keep Europeans warm in winter

So today is the day when a new energy union unveils in Brussels. The plan is "to establish a single European market in energy supplies, purchases and consumption, in an attempt to loosen the Kremlin's stranglehold on Europe's gas supplies"

The official press statement goes into tedious detail of what European people need and etc. There are few words of wisdom about Russia's evil grip over its energy supplies and its mischievousness towards using it in exchange for political gains (as if this was a big secret). 

Now that EU finally realized Russia is evil (it took a while, and an invasion of not one but territories of two countries) its turning into alternatives. Among them is Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iraq and Iran. A question comes to mind: so when Russia is evil and using its energy as a political tool, none of these countries considered for diversification aren't?! Azerbaijan isn't one of these? 

Does this mean an end to rights defenders work and pleas to hold the authorities of Azerbaijan responsible? Shall we forget about our political prisoners because the focus is now on European citizens and their need to stay warm over winter?    

And the Sakharov prize goes to...

European Parliament made its final call and awarded its highest human rights accolade- Sakharov Prize to Dr. Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecological surgeon. 

Congratulations Mr. Mukwege! I hope your cause and fight reaches out to many more and you save many more lives. 

 

In the meantime, our very own, Leyla Yunus came third. This most likely means, she will remain in prison together with her husband and the government will do whatever it takes to prevent other activists, defenders, journalists from receiving any other awards. Because they want to save face. Because Yunus winning the award would have put further pressure on the ruing government in Azerbaijan. But she didn't win. So less pressure. 

Where does all of this leave us?

The show must go on, and all of us who have taken part in promoting, advocating, writing, lobbying for Azerbaijan's political prisoners, continue doing so and should continue doing so. The Sakharov Prize may be over and Mr. Mukwege is the winner but our political prisoners remain in prison, and the struggle for their freedom must continue. 

You see the problem with spotlights is that they fade, the bulbs blow up or someone needs more spotlight and attention than others so people move on carrying their spotlight with them. But Azerbaijan is just one of those rare countries that needs the spotlight all the time. As soon as its gone, someone else ends up beaten, jailed, harassed, intimidated or worse killed (and it is likely the perpetrators will never be found).

I would like to remind readers in Europe, respected and esteemed Parliament Members, the Council of Europe (even if it has proven useless) and everyone else in the Western hemisphere who keeps tabs on human rights issues in Azerbaijan and still hasn't gone to the "dark side", to continue putting pressure on Azerbaijani leaders. Just think about it for a second: when did we start coming up with excuses when someone is threatened because he/she has a voice? When did we start valuing certain commodities (like caviar) over freedom of speech and freedom to assenbly? When did we start differentiating about different types of citizens, refugees vs. political prisoners? Aren't refugees in a way political prisoners too? Trapped in between official fighting and hunger for power? Aren't we all humans at the end of the day? 

Will these words make more sense and have bigger impact if addressed from the UN stage?! Well, we have no such opportunity so this blog post will have to do!

Oh I know the answer all right. But please tell me,  since when democracies stopped being democracies and turned into profit seeking enterprises; where value for basic human right is no longer valued at its highest and instead its all about barrels. Is it all about barrel of oil vs. barrel of human right?!  

I hope its not. Because if it is then we are kind of doomed. 

 

Why don't we all stop and think for a moment. Just remember the basic rights, remember the basic freedoms. Justice ought to be served eventually for all, and not for one group of people over another. If it is justice Azerbaijani government seeks than it shall seek it equally for all.

Dear friends, supporters, followers, haters, don't forget about Azerbaijan and the crackdown its honest people are facing at the moment. Remember it might be just a tat bit too late when the sh** hits the fan and there is no one to talk to in the country. Just saying...

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.