Protests, rallies, investigations- you name it, chronology of Azerbaijan's internal storm

Chronology of protests and other events sharking up the country

January 11 

• Sumgayt (Sumgayit district) Population 314,800 

January 12

• Liman (city in Lankaran district) Approximately 14,000 people in the city out of total 209,900 
• Siazan (Siazan district) Population 38,400 (police keeping "things under control" watch video here)
• Aghcabedi (Aghjabadi district) Population 124,000

January 13 

• Agsu (Agsu district) Population 72,100 
• Fizuli (Fizuli district) Population 118,900  
• Ujar (Ujar district) Population 79,800

January 14

Fearing the spill off, the government sends in troops to Sheki and Quba. In Sheki, Popular Front Party members are detained.

The 18% tax on wheat and bread cancelled.

January 15

• Quba (Quba district) Population 155,600 All entrance and exits into the city are controlled by the police while people’s demands remain the same- jobs, prices and living conditions (watch video here - people are chanting "istefa" [Resign]).  
• Zobcuq settlement (Fizuli district) 

January 16 

• Aghcabedi 
• Fizuli (can watch video sent by Fizuli resident here)

January 17 

• Hovsan settlement in Baku

January 18

• Employees at Bina shopping center didn't show up at work today [January 18] demanding drop in rents leaving the mall management without any customers.  
• Jalilabad (Jalilabad district) Population 196,500 
• Shaghaci village (Astara district)   

January 20 

• In Ganja, online activists called into questioning as of January 17. According to AzadliqRadiosu, activists are told not to call for any protests and even stop "liking" any comments or other related posts 

January 21

• a group of owners went on a strike at the market for car sales situated on Babak avenue in the capital of Baku. They demanded that the market management decreased rent prices given manat devalued almost by half in the past year. The management complied this time, decreasing prices by 10%

January 23

• Few foreign companies decide to leave Azerbaijan. Among them are French Technip Maritime Overseas LTD; Italian Maccaferri Azerbaijan and Turkey's Anel Telecommunication Electronic Systems 

January 25

• employees of Dashkasan Mining Factory came to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection demanding their salaries of the past two years- the employees say they have not been paid for the past two years.   
• also today a group of employees employed by AzerInshaat [construction company] gathered in front of the company headquarters demanding their unpaid salaries. Employees also protested last year October for the same reasons.  

January 26

• two more banks bid farewell today: United Credit Bank and NBC Bank's license was revoked  

January 27

• Two more banks lose their license in Azerbaijan: Caucasus Development Bank (Qafqaz Inkisaf Bank) and AtraBank 

January 28

• ParaBank says it won't issue any more loans  
• protests erupt in another town- Sumgayit. This time it were the shop owners at Karvan mall in Sumgayit. They were demanding that the mall management lowers the rents. They did by 30-50% however, they also said it's short term and will last for 3 months.

January 29

• Owner of Pharmacy chain Elmir Maharov called into the questioning based on the charges of "Artificial price increase and other illegal behavior". Avis operated in Azerbaijan since 1998. It has around 10 pharmacies across Baku.  

January 30

• after a few social media users announced plans for a protest in Zaqatala they were arrested. In total 7 people were arrested (including those who re-posted the original posts).  

February 1

• TexnikaBank license revoked 
• renters of shops at Karvan mall in Sumgayit continued protesting against high rent fees. Promises to drop fees that were made few days ago never happened.
• Musavat party activist Elvin Pashayev remained behind bars as Appeal court dismissed appeals of Pashayev's innocense
• Similarly deputy of Azerbaijan Popular Front Fuad Gahramanli was also left behind bars as Appeal court dismissed the motion of releasing Gahramanli under house arrest. 
• reports of a female resident of Aghcabedi self immolating due to outstanding bank loan 

February 2

• joining angered salesmen from Karvan mall in Sumgayit are the shop owners of "Moscow" mall in Baku. But this time, instead of raising their voices or yelling they have simply removed all goods from the counters. And this is how they are protesting increased rents which they are unable to pay.  

February 4

• vendors at the market known as "8km" went on strike protesting increase in rents 

February 5

• story of a man trying to commit suicide circulates online, he is rescued. complaining about pressure against him and his business the man said he had enough and hence tried ending his life. He is known to be Karabakh war veteran.
• also on February 5, residents in Ganja storm the building of the ruling New Azerbaijan party youth wing for the job fair. The fair was postponed due to overwhelming turnout. Police was reported to force people out of the building. According to AzadliqRadiosu there are 3569 unemployed in the country's second largest city. 

February 6

• 18 employees at the penitentiary service were dismissed from their jobs while 322 brought to justice for various crimes including acts of torture, abuse of power, corruption 

* By now, 11 banks stopped working in Azerbaijan while 3 announced their decision to merge

Chronology of protests in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan consists of 60+ districts (which are also known as rayon); 11 cities; and 1 autonomous republic. 

Since January 11, several districts across Azerbaijan saw its residents take the streets in frustration of soaring unemployment and price hikes (with an exception of Sumgayit where residents and mostly owners of little shops protested authorities decision to demolish their properties without any compensation). 

Below is the chronology of events and the names of towns where uprisings took place:

January 11 

• Sumgayt (Sumgayit district) Population 314,800 

January 12

• Liman (city in Lankaran district) Approximately 14,000 people in the city out of total 209,900 
• Siazan (Siazan district) Population 38,400 (police keeping "things under control" watch video here)
• Aghcabedi (Aghjabadi district) Population 124,000

January 13 

• Agsu (Agsu district) Population 72,100 
• Fizuli (Fizuli district) Population 118,900  
• Ujar (Ujar district) Population 79,800

January 14

Fearing the spill off, the government sends in troops to Sheki and Quba. In Sheki, Popular Front Party members are detained.

The 18% tax on wheat and bread cancelled.

January 15

• Quba (Quba district) Population 155,600 All entrance and exits into the city are controlled by the police while people’s demands remain the same- jobs, prices and living conditions (watch video here - people are chanting "istefa" [Resign]).  
• Zobcuq settlement (Fizuli district) 

January 16 

• Aghcabedi 
• Fizuli (can watch video sent by Fizuli resident here)

January 17 

• Hovsan settlement in Baku

January 18

• Employees at Bina shopping center didn't show up at work today [January 18] demanding drop in rents leaving the mall management without any customers.  
• Jalilabad (Jalilabad district) Population 196,500 
• Shaghaci village (Astara district)   

January 20 

• In Ganja, online activists called into questioning as of January 17. According to AzadliqRadiosu, activists are told not to call for any protests and even stop "liking" any comments or other related posts 

January 21

• a group of owners went on a strike at the market for car sales situated on Babak avenue in the capital of Baku. They demanded that the market management decreased rent prices given manat devalued almost by half in the past year. The management complied this time, decreasing prices by 10%

January 25

• employees of Dashkasan Mining Factory came to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection demanding their salaries of the past two years- the employees say they have not been paid for the past two years.   
• also today a group of employees employed by AzerInshaat [construction company] gathered in front of the company headquarters demanding their unpaid salaries. Employees also protested last year October for the same reasons.  

January 26

• two more banks bid farewell today: United Credit Bank and NBC Bank's license was revoked  

January 27

• Two more banks lose their license in Azerbaijan: Caucasus Development Bank (Qafqaz Inkisaf Bank) and AtraBank 

January 28

• ParaBank says it won't issue any more loans  
• protests erupt in another town- Sumgayit. This time it were the shop owners at Karvan mall in Sumgayit. They were demanding that the mall management lowers the rents. They did by 30-50% however, they also said it's short term and will last for 3 months. 

***I took the population stats from here so apologies in advance if they are off.

The protest this time was against arrests carried out shortly after the first protest. Residents were demanding release of those arrested. 

Now, the government authorized total spending in the amount of AZN32billion for regions since 2004 as part of three different state programs:

2004-2008

2009-2013

and 2014-2018 

Where did the money go? Good question! The answer is clear when one visits many of the regions in Azerbaijan where the infrastructure is at its poorest. Not to mention the state of medical facilities in villages, and schools as well. 

The government also claims it has created some 2million new jobs. Where are these jobs? Another good question. The same question asked by many of the protesters of these past few days asking where are these jobs. But no avail. Instead of giving clear answers, the authorities issued arrests and sent in riot police to disperse crowds of peaceful residents demand jobs. 

The average salary in Azerbaijan today is AZN261.30. Following second devaluation and with the current exchange rate, that's about 154USD. 

We are yet to see of other regions join, but it is clear, people are hungry, this is what they keep saying into the very few cameras at the spot because none of the state media would report on the protests. 

Will Aliyev and his minions do something or will they continue to suppress its people while keeping others mute? 

We shall see. I just hope no one gets hurt.

Dispatches from Azerbaijan: protests, unemployment in Aliyevland

This is the moment when I would love to have my trolls all lined up in orderly fashion (although I doubt they have the skills for that) and shove it into their faces all the crap they have been giving me about "the real life in Azerbaijan". You know, the things they said about wonderful living conditions, prosperity and all the rest of the bull shit they liked to talk about. Frankly, it wasn't just them talking about, its all of the government officials.

But since I don't have this wonderful as it may be opportunity I will just share a few updates about whats happening in my lovely home and how desperate the situation really is -unlike the crap of trolls and government officials. 

Lets start with protests in regions. 

January 12, in several regions of Azerbaijan people took the streets. They were angry naturally. Their main complaint is unemployment and price hikes. 

Aghcabedi, Siyazan, Fuzuli, the city of Liman in Lenkoran region, Ujar are the regions where people took the streets. There are reports to prevent further uprising the authorities have sent internal troops to Sheki and Guba as well.

Authorities instead of addressing people's grievances resolved the matter the way they always do- force against its own people. Internal troops were sent into these towns. They were authorized to use force and so they did- tear gas was abundant and so were rubber bullets from what the pictures said. Which in fact is actually illegal but hey when did we hear anything legal happening in Azerbaijan?! 

In the meantime, one city official said the prices have gone down not just in one region but across the whole country- but she also said she doesn't know by how much because she doesn't go shopping- weird, I guess she has some kind of telepathic powers- she sees through the walls and the kilometers of land, visualizing shops with decreased prices.

But the prices are indeed growing and they have no intention of stopping. In a tea producing nation, a kilo of tea cost 4AZN but now it has gone up to 11AZN 80cents. Sack of flour costs 28AZN- the price has gone up by 10AZN. 

Surely the people would be angry. They have been living in these conditions for a long time now, it was just a matter of time until they exploded. And unless there are "ground breaking" reforms (i love that word, ground-breaking- yes lets break the ground so the officials responsible for bringing this country into its current state all fall down through the cracks and get lost) life will continue being tough for the average people. 

Because obviously something is really wrong in a country where people are unable to afford life. 

One of the protesters tried committing suicide. Because at the age of 38, the man is unable to provide bread for his family. Yes, that glitz and glamour you see in advertisements on TV and airports abroad, isn't all.

We are in far more shit people...

Most (if not all) exchange units closed. While the Central Bank says it is the result of high activity in currency exchange. A friend shared this picture today:

AzərTürkBank bu dəqiqə
Posted by Turxan Qarishga on Wednesday, 13 January 2016

Future of Egyptian politics

Wanted to share this video with you:

The revolutionary chants on the streets of Egypt have resonated around the world, but with a popular uprising without a clear direction and an unpopular leader refusing to concede, Egypt's future hangs in the balance. Riz Khan talks to Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek about the power of popular dissent, the limits of peaceful protest and the future of Egyptian politics.