When conspiracies become a reality- the case of Turkey and Azerbaijan

There is a book written by a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University Dan Ariely. Its called "The (honest) truth about dishonesty: how we lie to everyone- especially ourselves". While the book in general is about people lying (and yes we all do lie even though sometimes very little, and even though we might even call these lies "white lies") and the patterns of lying and etc. there were few examples mentioned in the book that reminded me very much (or in fact explained it) how politicians lie and where the whole thing about conspiracy theories comes from. 

Let me explain a bit further. You see very recently, the protests that shook Turkey were closely linked to many conspiracy theories among which were the so- called vicious "interest lobby", the international Jewish conspiracy, Illuminati, Lutfhansa, the CIA, international media outlets, Germany among other European countries- the so- called "evil powers" wanting to weaken great Turkish state. More recently, there was also a case of telekinesis (yes! for real!), by which, all of these theories proved more or less to be true. Turkey's newly appointed chief adviser to Prime Minster, Yigit Bulut actually claimed through his telekinetic powers that it was those terrible terrible dark forces behind Gezi Park protests wanting to destroy Turkey's great economy and its image abroad (you can read more on this in a piece by Guardian's Flachra Gibbons).

Similarly to PM Erdogan, there is another country leader (among many others) who strongly believes in such conspiracy theories- Turkey's brother nation, Azerbaijan and its incumbent president Ilham Aliyev. President Aliyev as well as his cronies strongly believe that there is strong outside lobby wanting to damage Azerbaijan's economy, its image and its reputation (but on the bright side, at least there isn't a case of telekinetic power, phew!)

Now, in Ariely's book, the bottom line of lying at times boils down to this: you believe in something so much that you start thinking its the truth and at some point one forgets the actual truth (i apologize in advance to the author if I am drawing wrong conclusions but at least from one of the chapters I remember, I feel like this could be one of the conclusions drawn). This "belief" in "(dis)honesty" explains well the whole freaky concept of conspiracy theories politicians make up. In the case of Turkey, Azerbaijan and many others who claim the existence of Darth Wader like powerful dark forces on the mission to take over these countries and well, pretty much destroy them.

To me all of this looks like dark fantasy comic book. Except its not a comic book and what we are seeing happening in Turkey and Azerbaijan is bitter reality and a game of politics. And while the comic books end at some point (and the good prevails), in reality (and with all these conspiracy theories around) we might be facing a future of Darth Waders, evil witches and Hogwarts with lots of members from Slytherin- all to get us.

Life in a bubble- Azerbaijan

Yes, this is how life must be for the Azerbaijani authorities- living in a bubble of everything that's not real but preached to be. And here is why... Few days ago, state media decided to yet again speak on behalf of someone. In a blunt report, our "honest" media claimed only words of praise coming from U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijani, Richard Morningstar on his recent trip to Nakhichevan. Fortunately for Azerbaijani people, the U.S. Embassy was quick to react, accusing the aforementioned outlet for blasphemy. 

The Ambassador did not make such comments [praising Azerbaijan's democratic progress] to anyone, and reports claiming that he did so are not true.

Surely, it shall come as no surprise that our "honest" media forgot to mention the purpose of Ambassador Morningstar's visit to Nakhichevan, which was the very opposite of what the newspaper claimed- poor quality of democracy and human rights. This cannot be a typo, nor it can be an editorial mistake. In fact, if this was a so- called mistake, the editor of that newspaper should be fired. But no, this wont happen, because in that bubble- Azerbaijan there was no mistake because in that bubble- Azerbaijan, there is democratic progress and development in every aspect of every Azerbaijani citizen.

Lets see who is going to be the next target of "honest" media of bubble- Azerbaijan...

 

Carpeted and sumptuous facades of Azerbaijan

As we all just barely recover from the New Year celebrations, never- ending food and goodies left from the festive night, others been working hard. And I am ever grateful for this hard work given the tremendous (or perhaps not so much, depending how you look at it and who looks at it) influence this work might have on certain individuals who prefer lavish life styles and extra cash to things like a drop of honesty perhaps.

Before I confuse you even more, here is what I am talking about. Spiegel, released an article (though I would like to call it more of a tribute) about/to Azerbaijan which might please critics of the government and not so much those who are lobbying to "burnish" the country's image in Europe. Apparently the busy bees been occupied contracting shady pr agencies and throwing extravagant parties disguised under "cultural events" (apparently having carpets involved makes the purpose of such gatherings cultural- sigh, if only carpets knew how they are being used these days...) to improve the country's image in preparations to the upcoming Eurovision song contest. 

Perhaps the busy bees are blinded my their bank accounts (reminding me of Donald Duck and his "$"- sign- popping- eyes) and their little tiny brains that were at some point in time and space replaced by "money money money, always sunny" phrases (which by no means implies that I don't have respect for ABBA anymore) and propaganda- talking machines. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how many ex- European government officials you "buy", "convert" or whatever this shady business style is called these days- oh, I remembered now, it has a fancy word for it- Lobbying!- one can only hide behind carpeted and sumptuous facades this much. Sadly, it also reveals how much money can buy and what it can eventually do to you (see for instance Qaddafi and his "sad" departure from this world). 

Anyway, the point is, you should read the article, draw your own conclusion, decide what to believe in and finally visit Azerbaijan this May. We live in a funny world, you just have to be careful who you trust, how you trust and whats behind that. After all Ronald Reagan did say once "trust, but verify"...

From human rights to diaspora- whatever works to hide the truth

In a recent statement made by Novruz Mammadov, Ilham Aliyev's chief foreign policy advisor, human rights were once again dismissed and replaced by the usual cry- baby- cry statements of US supporting Armenia and only Armenia as well as going as far as mocking speech writers of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as illiterate and in denial. 

December 10th is celebrated as the International Human Rights Day, following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. On this occasion the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issued an appeal in which Azerbaijan was listed as a country in need for far more improvement within the human rights framework. This sparked (nor surprisingly) much negative reaction. So much, that Azerbaijan's Chief Foreign Policy advisor Novruz Mammadov (i wonder who is in need of temper management here) reacted... well... quite negatively. 

In his remarks, Novruz Mammadov tried changing the actual point of the mock to something completely unrelated- once again the usual saga that everyone is picking on us when they shouldn't because we are a very stable, democratic, free and independent country unlike Armenia (because everything only evolves around Armenia and Azerbaijan). 

Mammadov, accused US of not even ratifying the declaration themselves, as an official document (as if respect for human rights solely depends on a signature or adoption of any kind of document). He cited Occupy Movement as an example (which if he followed news closely have created a lot of public domestic debate in the US within the fair/unfair treatment debate). 

In a counter statement in support of the speech made by the Secretary of State, Azerbaijani- Americans for Democracy (AZAD) "issued a press release" whereby expressing their gratitude and urging US continue pressing Azerbaijan for its poor record on human rights (not to mention freedom of expression, religion and more). Here is a brief statement from their press release:

Unfortunately, these officials did not provide any explanation for their government's blatant disrespect towards the basic rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani citizens enshrined in the country's constitution and Azerbaijan's international obligations. Instead, they once again repeated the old propaganda [...] shamefully hiding behind Azerbaijan's refugees and the occupied territories as if that tragedy in any way can justify the oppression the Aliyev regime inflicts on the Azerbaijani people.

There are many things that are not stable, not democratic and not free in Azerbaijan. Human rights are only one of these. And indeed, we have a long way to go to change this. There is no need to hide behind the facades of energy resources or consequences of war because hiding won't solve the problem but only make it bigger and durable. The longer Azerbaijani government continues to ignore the realities of present day Azerbaijan, the longer Azerbaijan will be criticized by other institutions and countries on its poor record for many indicators (after all, one cannot buy every single official in every single country or institution). It is too late to hide the truth, but its not too late to face up and do something about it. I am just wondering when this glorious day will finally come to Azerbaijan...