Australian politicians join the caravan, unable to resist the "lure" of Azerbaijan caviar diplomacy

What could be better than an all-expense paid trip to Azerbaijan in return for a little praising, shoulder patting and love?! 

Nothing, not in the case of Australian politicians at least. 

Reading this piece titled "War of words over shuttle diplomacy in Azerbaijan" I was not really surprised that Australian politicians have joined the caravan of other international folks who give in to the sweet-talk of business class flights, dinners and so on in return for a few favors.   

And looks like they don't even mind it.

Well hell ya?! Who would not be impressed when they are shown only what their hosts want their guests to see which probably was nothing by luxury and prosperity as well as "tolerance, economic development, political stability".

But my favorite part of the story was this line: 

Hmm... because these countries are surely just as "tolerant"?

Ay ay ay... and all of this to support Azerbaijan's calls to liberate Nagorno Karabakh and recognize illegal occupation of its 7 adjacent territories.

But instead of having other countries do the recognition, the blaming and so on, it would be so much better if all this "effort" was put in practice by the Azerbaijan authorities to actually do something about liberating the territories. "international recognition" won't change anything unless genuine efforts are made on behalf of the government of Azerbaijan. And that is that.

The battle of words goes on

Following the publication of the following piece in Washingpost about Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev and the most recent crackdown on the supporters of free speech and democracy in the country it didn’t take long for the official response to come through.

Commenting on the allegations explained at length in the article (including the trumped up charges brought up against Leyla and Arif Yunus), Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Washington D.C. Elin Suleymanov said it wasn’t as simple as that. “The merit of charges against Leyla and Arif Yunus should be determined by the legal system in Azerbaijan, not by political campaigns. The detention could have been avoided had they responded to the repeated summons to testify in an ongoing investigation. Instead […] they rejected any interaction with law enforcement officials”. Perhaps if Mr. Suleymanov was prevented from leaving the country on one of his trips without any explanation he’d think differently. Until then, his response should come as no surprise.

In his letter to editorial of Washington Post, Richard Kauzlarich, who was US Ambassador to Azerbaijan between 1994 and 1997 wrote a timely response to Ambassador Suleymanov: “The ambassador did not address the bogus charges of spying for Armenia made against Leyla and Arif Yunus, the fact that Mrs. Yunus is being denied medicines and medical treatment or the fact that there are dozens of other political prisoners being detained or imprisoned in Azerbaijani jails”.

The truth of the matter is everyone including Ambassador Suleymanov is aware that the on-going crackdown is unjustified. And more than anything it makes the government of Azerbaijan look weak – if this was a confident leadership the country would have no political prisoners in jail or any other problems with freedom of speech or human rights as a matter of fact.

As for public diplomacy and the role people like Yunuses play in the on-going track two discussions instead of belittling, some gratitude would be much appreciated. Especially as Ambassador Kauzlarich rightly notes, “neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan has demonstrated a commitment to the Minsk Group framework because neither side is prepared to make the compromises necessary to achieve the peaceful resolution of this conflict”.

Broadening horizons: Azerbaijan goes from silencing local NGOs to sponsoring international ones

Ah, Azerbaijan! The country of so many contrasts and surprises! Today, I learned that our "independent" Council on State Support to NGOs announced an open call for applications to international non governmental institutions especially from Europe and US. The applicants are encouraged to apply (boy, I am about to choke) with projects that focus on the following topics:

- protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms;

- combating against xenophobia, racism, and islamophobia;

- fostering peace and security and alleviation of negative consequences of regional conflicts

to name the few. 

How ironic isn't it?! While the country's own human rights record is deteriorating and freedoms are violated on daily basis, its open to support projects on these issues elsewhere. Instead of dealing with its own religious issues, it prefers to "sponsor" equality and respect elsewhere... 

And this is just in time after a new defamation provision. 

All is left for us to do is get some pop corn and watch where all this goes. Just beware that the Azerbaijani government might come after you, you never know how they interpret things- everything is conditional...

Feudal Fascist regime of Azerbaijan

Corruption, bribery, scandal, war, exploitation, hatred, propaganda, excuses, misuse of patriotism, misuse of tragedies, and more in this to the point speech by Emin Milli.

Must watch especially on the eve of another march (March 10th) held in support of innocent deaths of Azerbaijani soldiers (and reasons behind them)! 

I thought barbarism was long gone but wait, I was deeply mistaken

In Azerbaijan, the leader of the party calling itself Modern Equality (Muasir Musavat) Hafiz Haciyev, announced yesterday, on February 10th, that his party would pay a generous sum of AZN10,000 to anyone who cut the ears of the writer Akram Ayasli. 

I wrote about Aylasli previously and while his books were burned, he was stripped of his honorary status of a writer and his pension was taken away from him, this man, is now the subject of further insanity. 

One book, one novel, a lot of "anger"

Ekrem Eylisli is a well respected writer in Azerbaijan, well, he was up until few days ago. He was the center of discussion at the opening session of Azerbaijani Parliament on February 1st, not much, for some 50 minutes. He was heavily criticized for his recent book "Stone Dreams" published in mid-December in a Russian magazine "Friendship of the people". The parliament members demanded 75 year old Eylisli stripped of his title of "national artist". And its not just the parliament. A group of young men and women, gathered in front of the house where the writer lives, and chanted slogans as "Death to Eylisli", calling him a traitor, moving to Armenia, burning down his portrait, and "burring" him in a coffin with a cross placed on top of the coffin. Others went as far as to call for a DNA test to "check" his "roots". 

Unlike recent protests that were violently dispersed by local police, this protest wasn't. According to reports, police just stood there watching. I doubt this was a sanctioned rally.

In an article that appeared today in NYTimes, Azerbaijani journalist, Shahla Sultanova, writes the following about the novel:

The work tells the story of two Azeri men who try to protect their Armenian neighbors from ethnic violence, an incendiary topic in Azerbaijan, a country still gripped by the war it fought two decades ago with Armenia. Since the war ended, Azerbaijan has been trying to regain control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnically Armenian enclave within its borders, and secure the return of Azeris who were forced from their homes.

The author, says he wasn't expecting such reaction. But this is sadly the case with anyone who writes anything positive about the country's neighbor. Many have been criticized for speaking of "the enemy" in a "positive" light before and Mr. Eylisli is not the first nor is he the last one given the resentment and anger people are fed eveyday.