The most corrupt courts and officials in Azerbaijan

International organization Transparency International presented the results of the study “Global Corruption Barometer” for 2009. We must note that this investigation is a global sociological survey that reflects the views of citizens on corruption. It was conducted in 69 countries of the world from October 2008 to March 2009 and covered more than 71 thousand respondents. This is the sixth survey, but in Azerbaijan, as in several other post-Soviet countries, it was the first time. National Sociological Service Plus-R examined the views of 1000 people. They had to evaluate on a 5-point scale the level of corruption in different areas.
In the opinion of our fellow citizens, the most corrupt in Azerbaijan are the courts (4 points), and government officials (3.9 points). But the world scene is somewhat different. Citizens of countries which conducted the survey, believed that most corruption prone to political parties, government officials, parliaments, business, and then the courts and the press.
Interestingly, the courts are in first place on the level of corruption in a large group of newly independent countries, including Georgia and Armenia. The Russians also believe the most corrupt institution is bureaucracy (63% of respondents).
In general every 10th person in the world at least once gave a bribe in the last 12 months.
Interviewees felt pointless to complain about the requirement to give a bribe. According to 50% of respondents, this does not change, 25% sure will lose a lot of time, 19% were afraid of retaliation. Citizens of many countries say that the activities of governments in struggle corruption are ineffective. In Azerbaijan, 62% of respondents stated that all the activities are ineffective to struggle against corruption. Survey reveals distrust of business in the world. More than half of respondents believe that private business use bribes to influence government policy and legislation.

Trusting, corrupt Azerbaijan

I’ve been in Azerbaijan for just over six weeks now, but I this is my first blog post since my arrival.

I haven’t known what to say, really. It’s not that I’ve been awed into silence by the exoticness of this Caucasus nation. I live in Baku, and we have six McDonald’s (so I hear — I’ve managed to visit two). Anyplace with that many McDonald’s fails some kind of exoticness test somewhere. Well, maybe if it was Japan and there was shrimp-burger on the menu, but the most exotic thing you can order at my McD’s is a MacArabic — basically, a really mediocre chicken wrap.

No, Azerbaijan’s foreignness reveals itself in small ways. The streets full of Land Rovers and Hummers and Mercedes and BMWsalso share space with Opels and Daewoos, and tiny, box-like Soviet Ladas and Zhigulis. You can buy a Snickers and some milk at the market, and a goat’s head as well. And, everywhere you look, there’s a cat. (More on that in another posting…)

I’ve had trouble pinning down just what makes this place tick. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and talked to a lot of people, foreigners and locals alike, but I still don’t know.

Azerbaijan is a study in overlap. It’s a Venn diagram country. If you took eastern Turkey, northern Iran and southern Russia and forced them all to share a room, you’d get Azerbaijan. If you took Shi’ia Islam — like you’d find in Iran — but diluted their vigorous, all-pervading faith with the atheist hangover of a formerly Soviet state and the secular flavor of Turkey’s Islam, you’d get Azerbaijan’s approach to religion. They speak Azeri, which is kissing cousins with Turkish, but a lot of people speak Russian and the more educated people might speak some English. On the subway, you’re apt to see advertisements in English, Azeri, Cyrillic and Farsi. The nation straddles Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It could be grouped with the ’stans, the Middle East, or its Caucasus neighbors, Armenia and Georgia.

The people are amazingly trusting, and yet, somehow, it’s one of the most corrupt nations on the planet.

On the one hand, here’s an example a friend in the Peace Corps, who is working in microfinance in the north of the country, shared with me.

People in Azerbaijan often refuse to use banks. This is understandable, as a banking crisis not that long ago wiped out the savings of some. But the banking system is much improved, and one bank is trying to lure people into opening accounts by explaining how the account might help a family share funds. The bank explains to prospective customers that a son or daughter working in the capital, Baku, can deposit money that family members in an outlying region can then withdraw.

What’s the point of that? they ask. Why not just give the 100 Manat to a taxi driver — along with 3 Manat for the drive — and have him bring the cash up from Baku to the village, two hours away? Azeris think nothing of trusting a stranger that way.

I’m from New York City, so I’m paranoid. I watch my belongings like a hawk wherever I go. But I would feel better about leaving a bag or a jacket unattended in Baku than in London or Paris or my hometown. Violent crime doesn’t exist, and even petty theft such as bag-snatching and pick-pocketing is hardly a problem. Women walk home alone after 1 a.m. through downtown Baku without looking over their shoulders.

And the people are hospitable to a fault. I’m treated like an honored guest at each of the three MFI’s where I’ve been working, Komak, Aqroinvest and Normicro. Tea is brought, lunch is paid for. The other day Ayyub, my boss at Aqroinvest, took me to a hamam, Turkish bath, to steam away my troubles. If you try to go outside with wet hair or a wet shirt, someone will get in your face about how you’re going to catch cold. That’s just how it is here.

But, oh, the corruption! As a foreigner, I’ve heard many stories but had little personal interaction with that ever-present force. (No one thinks twice of overcharging me for any purchase I make, but I’m not sure that qualifies as corruption.) Rather, I glean what I can from my reading and from the stories I hear. I can’t vouch for any of them, but everyone seems to have a story.

The most corrupt country in 2008, according to the watchdog group Transparency International, is Somalia, ranked 180. Iraq and Myanmar are tied for one spot better. The least corrupt countries in the world, sharing top honors on the list, are Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden. Transparency International rates countries on a scale called a Corruption Perceptions Index. It’s a 10-point scale. Those three countries range from 9.1 to 9.5 on the scale.

I’ve read that a good rule of thumb is that in any country under a 3 on the scale, corruption pervades all aspects of the daily lives of its citizens. In the 3 range you will find countries such as Niger, Egypt, Belize, Mauritania, Togo, Thailand and Saudi Arabai. Azerbaijan barely musters a 2, with an index range of 1.7 to 2.1. It’s tied with Burundi, Venezuela, Angola, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and the Republic of the Congo for a dismal 158th place.

On a drive to the regions with two of my friends from one of my MFIs, we were pulled over by a cop. We hadn’t been speeding or anything like that, so I was a bit alarmed as the cop got out of his car and approached the driver of ours. But our driver said not to worry.

He hopped out, greeted the police officer, and they shook hands and turned around and walked back to the police car. The policeman rejoined his partner inside the police car and my friend chatted with them through their window. No tickets were written, no admonishments made. It wasn’t until later that someone explained to me how it works. The supervising highway police have a quota they give their highway patrol to fill. The highway patrol must pull over X number of drivers each day. The standard bribe is 5 Manat (1 Azeri Manat=1.24 U.S. Dollars). When he shook hands with the cop, my friend was paying the bribe as you or I might pay the toll on a bridge. Any bribes the policeman can take beyond the quota he gets to keep.

Another example, much worse: schoolchildren pay for grades. It’s not that the poorest students bribe their teachers not to fail them: ALL students must pay. If a bright student who knows the material doesn’t pay, she fails. If a student who never opened the textbook pays the price, he passes with high marks. That’s the system. All the incentives that might produce an educated elite are out the window. Apparently, it’s gotten worse in recent years, with teacher’s assistants lining up the students before exams so they can pay the bribes one by one.

Azerbaijan doesn’t face the kind of poverty you find in many Kiva countries: people are poor, and often hungry, but they aren’t dying of easily curable diseases left and right, or one meal away from starvation. The incredible oil and natural gas wealth that supplies the dozens of high-end retail shops in Baku with customers has managed to trickle down a bit to the masses. But, despite its wealth relative to the very poorest nations, I still think Azeri schoolchildren lining up to pay the bribe before the exam is a singularly hopeless, discouraging image.

I hear other stories. Politicans buy appointments. Official document are only delivered with some baksheesh, and if any of your documents are out of order, expect to pay the price. Successful owners of large businesses — from doctors’ offices to supermarkets — must periodically pay thousands of Manat to police who march in and demand that the doors be shut. Bribes lubricate the gears of this country, both large and small.

I’m not sure what makes me more upset: that this goes on, or that no one seems bothered enough to speak up about it. I think, however, that it bothers many people, probably much more than it bothers me, but they lack the tools — a true democracy, a free press — to do anything constructive with that anger, and so they hold it inside.

When you leave the capital — and most of the Kiva clients at my MFI’s live outside the capital — it’s really like travelling back in time. You go from Cosmo Magazine, the Bulgari store and Japanese restaurants right into an agrarian society. Picture the 18th century, but with cell phones and cars, and all the farmers and sheep herders wearing pinstripe suits.

Driving through the regions, it has the look of a Disney movie — ducks crossing the road here, a puppy and kitten wrestling there, a cow grazing on the left and a herd of sheep on the right. Of course, you’re apt to have some enormous metal contraption the USSR left behind, something meant to leech the gas or oil from the earth, rotting in the background, but ignore that.

There is no industry for these people. The oil boom that makes Baku so Western — all of those petrodollars being pumped out of the Caspian into someone’s pocket — don’t reach these people. They survive on their wits. They find simple business opportunities. They raise cattle and sell the milk, or make it into yogurt or butter and sell that. If a calf is born, they might sell its meat. They raise chickens for the family to eat. Pomegranates from the tree in the backyard are sold at bazaar.

If they can raise enough capital, they might start a more formal business: a general store, a shop peddling auto parts, a hardware store, a butcher shop. This is where microfinance comes in. Kiva and its three partner MFIs in Azerbaijan does such good work for these people. The capital is the missing piece. It’s often the difference betwen a family of four or five living on $2-3 U.S.D. or living on $10. Nearly every entrepreneur I’ve had the chance to interview has made a point of asking for another loan.

If Azerbaijan weren’t so corrupt, microfinance might not be so important. But as it is, measures of this nation’s wealth are misleading. The richest, best-connected people, making millions off oil, skew estimates for everyones’ wealth. They hide the reality that outside the petrol industry, people have to build their own livelihoods. Thanks to microfinance, hardworking, honest people don’t have to be confined to poverty here.

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2008/11/25/trusting-corrupt-azerbaijan/#comment-15281

Karabakh’s call on Azerbaijan

Fires are breaking out from time to time at different sector of the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh starting in June.

According to information by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the NKR, the main reason for the fires are the shots fired from Azerbaijan and the bombings in territories under the supervision of Azeri Armed Forces as a result of which fires move to the Karabakh side.

According to information of the Rescue Service of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, 24-hour on-duty officials are stationed in the corresponding sectors and there are field firefighters and rescuers with firefighting trucks. Helping rescuers are the soldiers of the NKR Defense Army and residents. Measures are being taken to localize, extinguish and prevent the fires.

The NKR administration calls on the Azeri side to refrain from such actions, which cause severe damage to the surrounding environment and endanger people’s health and security.

Oil-rich dictator cultivated by Prince Andrew

Oil-rich dictator cultivated by Prince Andrew blocks BBC broadcasts to Azerbaijan

An oil-rich dictator assiduously cultivated by Prince Andrew with Foreign Office support has rewarded Britain by pulling the plug on BBC broadcasts to his authoritarian state.

The Duke of York has made two ‘private’ trips to Azerbaijan in the last seven months, and also visited the former Soviet state in May 2005, June 2006, and October 2007, a surprisingly high number of trips by a royal to any country.

In all cases he was received by President Ilham Aliyev, who is widely criticised for stifling opposition and freedom of speech, and whose state-run media now routinely refers to the prince as ‘the dear guest’.

‘Reward’: Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, who has hosted Prince Andrew on two visits, has now blocked BBC broadcasts in his country

In the limited comment in the heavily censored state-run media in Baku, the prince’s recent visits were described as furthering relations between Britain and the Caspian Sea state, though neither Buckingham Palace nor the Foreign Office chose to throw any light on the reasons for his 2008 trips or reveal their full itineraries.

Despite the prince’s apparent efforts to make the case for Britain in Azerjaijan, Aliyev – once seen as a playboy with a reputation for gambling and women who inherited the presidency in Azerbaijan from his father Heydar, a Soviet-era KGB chief, after what was widely seen as a less than free poll in 2003 – has withdrawn the BBC’s licence to broadcast on local frequencies in the country.

Voice of America and Radio Free Europe were also barred, prompting a withering US State Department condemnation last week that the move would represent ‘a serious setback to freedom of speech, and retard democratic reform in Azerbaijan’, a view echoed by the European Union.

It is not clear that there was a similarly outspoken attack from the Foreign Office on the curtailment of BBC programmes in the country, which offers British companies extensive oil contracts

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, cultivated the President with the backing of the Foreign Office

The BBC did condemn the ban for ‘depriving hundreds of thousands of radio listeners the chance to receive independent, impartial and objective reports’ in their own language on its former FM outlets.

It vowed to find ‘alternative ways’ to broadcast in Azerbaijan on the Internet and cable networks, though this is unlikely to reach anything like the same number of people.

The blocking of the BBC is part of a crackdown on the media by Aliyev – who is a year younger than the 48 year old prince – which follows approval in late December of constitutional amendments granting the president royal-like powers and permitting him to be elected an infinite number of times.

In both recent trips, in June and November last year, the prince in understood to have arrived by executive jet on what were described locally as unofficial visits.

The British Embassy in Baku declined to comment other than to say they were ‘private’.

It refused to discuss why Ambassadorial assistance was given to the prince on supposedly private visits, something that is by no means routine for the royal family.

In both recent visits by the prince, British ambassador Dr Carolyn Browne is pictured with Andrew at the airport though the embassy mysteriously refused to confirm even this fact, which presumably involved an expenditure of taxpayers’ money.

In at least one of the visits, Azerbaijan’s oil supremo, Huseingulu Baghirov, also met the prince at Baku airport.

‘It was a private visit and the embassy cannot comment on the Royal Family’s private visits,’ said an embassy spokeswoman referring to the June 2008 trip. The prince and Aliyev also met at Davos in January last year.

The move against the BBC and other Western broadcasters is clearly a blow to Foreign Office efforts to encourage democracy and openness in Azerbaijan. It is likely to lead to criticism if the prince continues to visit the country.

Official reports of Prince Andrew’s itineraries last year in Azerbaijan are sketchy but suggest he has visited a horse stables linked to the President.

The Duke, who is Britain’s official representative for international trade and investment, has also visited historic sites in the country.

Yet Turan News Agency – a supposedly ‘independent’ news outlet in Azerbaijan – claimed that Prince Andrew ‘regularly visits Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, where he has his own business interests’.

It did not explain the claim about private business interests.

One source on a state-run media outlet said: ‘It’s always like this with Prince Andrew, he comes and does something in public, and after that no-one is allowed to ask what he is does and who he sees or where he goes.’

Another media source said: ‘When he comes, Prince Andrew is a private guest of the country’s president, and so none of the independent media was allowed to be anywhere near him. ‘

He added: ‘We are not allowed to know why he is coming. We can’t ask what is the purpose of his private visit, who is he working with here, and what are the companies he builds any co-operation with, if any.

‘We can see he is a friend of the president, but apart from that its all very murky.’

Azerbaijan last week denied anything sinister in revoking the BBC’s right to broadcast on FM radio.

‘We are not closing down foreign radio stations but we want their activities to be regulated according to international practice,’ claimed Ali Hasanov, head of the political department of Aliyev’s administration.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1105786/Oil-rich-dictator-cultivated-Prince-Andrew-blocks-BBC-broadcasts-Azerbaijan.html

Oil-rich, ex-Soviet dictator

Oil-rich, ex-Soviet dictator and friend to Prince Andrew wins referendum making him ruler … for life

An oil rich dictator who is close to Prince Andrew yesterday won a referendum that allows him to remain president for life in his ex-Soviet state.

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will now change the constitution of his Caspian Sea state enabling him to stand as many times as he likes as ruler.

The vote was boycotted by opposition groups who claim he stifles free speech and rigs elections while wishing to turn his country into royal-like fiefdom in which his family is always in power.

Aliyev – once seen as a playboy with a reputation for gambling and women – inherited the presidency from his father Heydar who was Communist boss in Azerbaijan before the collapse of the USSR, and there is speculation he intends eventually to pass his ‘throne’ to his son, now 11.

Dictator: President Ilham Aliyev casts his vote in a referendum which will allow him to stand as many times as ruler

The Duke of York made two ‘private’ trips to Azerbaijan last year, and also visited capital Baku in May 2005, June 2006, and October 2007, a surprisingly high number of trips by a royal to any country.

In all cases he was received by 48-year-old President Ilham Aliyev, whose state controlled media are ordered to refer to the prince as ‘the dear guest’ in articles and broadcasts.

The prince also met Aliyev in Switzerland in January at the World Economic Forum.   Despite his friendship with the prince, the same month Aliyev blocked BBC broadcasts on FM frequencies to his authoritarian state.

Aliyev’s plan to lift the limit on the number of times a president can stand for re-election was won by more than 91 per cent of the vote, according to an almost complete tally released yesterday.

Pals: Prince Andrew is said to enjoy a close friendship with the President

The Council of Europe this week warned that Azerbaijan could be expelled due to the constitutional amendment.

‘We are speaking here on democracy and the rule of law. We believe that if there is no limit, the fact is that a president can turn into a dictator,’ said Ian Miscallef, a senior council official.

The decision violated pledges made by Azerbaijan in 2002, he said.

Many opposition politicians and foreign observers believe Aliyev turned into a dictator long before this vote.

Opposition leader Isa Qambar said: ‘The referendum was designed to prolong the Aliyev family’s hold on power – but will eventually shorten it. We are representatives of a civic movement that will continue to struggle in this direction.

‘I am sure that this fight will end with the victory of Azerbaijani people.’

An editor, speaking about the prince’s regular visits to Azerbaijan, said: ‘We are not allowed to know why he is coming.

‘We can’t ask what is the purpose of his private visit, who is he working with here, and what are the companies he builds any co-operation with, if any.

‘We can see he is a friend of the president, but apart from that its all very murky.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1163545/Oil-rich-ex-Soviet-dictator-friend-Prince-Andrew-wins-referendum-making-ruler—life.html

Prince Andrew and the President Aliyev

Air Miles Andy takes £60,000 private jet to see oil-rich friends in hardline ex-Soviet Azerbaijan

Prince Andrew has been accused of squandering an estimated £60,000 of public money by chartering a luxury private jet for a three-day visit to a corrupt ex-Soviet republic.

Accompanied by a bodyguard and two officials, he arrived in Azerbaijan on Monday to promote British business.

Andrew flew in a French-built Dassault Falcon 9000, which can carry up to 15 passengers.

Friends: Prince Andrew with the Azerbaijani President’s daughter Leila Aliyev, left, and her mother Mehriban

A spokesman for the Prince confirmed that the cost of the private jet, with its deep leather seats, thick carpets, computers and conference tables, would be met by taxpayers. It is thought the bill includes overnight accommodation for the crew and landing fees.

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said: ‘I have become increasingly concerned at the flagrant waste of taxpayers’ money by members of the Royal Family and their unusual travel arrangements. It seems that taxpayers’ interests are not taken into account.’

Although Andrew has built up good relationships in the oil-rich Caspian state – this was his sixth visit in five years – it is not clear exactly how they have benefited Britain. And sources in the capital, Baku, said that on this occasion, while the Prince’s schedule may have been packed, there had been a ’struggle’ to find him enough suitable engagements.

Buckingham Palace declined to disclose last night why Andrew decided not to use a scheduled flight.

If he had flown with British Midland, which operates daily direct services from London to Baku, he could have paid £1,300 for a business class return ticket.

The controversy over extravagant travel has beset the Royal Family for a number of years, and the profligacy of ‘Air Miles Andy’ will embarrass the Queen in a time of recession.

Although Andrew went in his capacity as roving ambassador for British business, the trip gave him the opportunity to catch up with his friends among the country’s ruling elite, who have grown extraordinarily wealthy through the oil boom.

None more so than the dictatorial President Ilham Aliyev, 48, who in his younger days had a reputation as a playboy. His opponents claim he stifles free speech and rigs elections. Earlier this year he blocked the BBC from broadcasting into his country.

Flight of luxury: A Dassault Falcon 9000

A request by the BBC for an interview with Andrew during his visit was turned down by the British Embassy.

‘They told the journalist, an accredited BBC correspondent who had written formally to the embassy prior to Andrew’s arrival, that he would be too busy,’ said a source.

‘This was something of a surprise because it was thought that he might want to show willing given the president’s ban on BBC broadcasting.’

Andrew is said to be friendly with Aliyev’s beautiful daughters. One of them, 24-year-old Leila, who is married to the son of a Russian oligarch, recently spent nearly £300,000 on vintage Cristal champagne for a dinner party for just 12 girl pals.

It was not just Andrew’s flight but the visit itself that raised concerns.

His close relationship with President Aliyev, and the high number of visits, has led political observers and local media to speculate that Andrew has personal business interests in Azerbaijan, although his friends have denied he has abused his role to ‘feather his own nest’.

Buckingham Palace said last night that it never commented on private business matters. Another question being asked with growing frequency is: Has he become too close to a controversial president who runs an authoritarian state riddled with corruption? And if so, might this be damaging to our Royal Family’s integrity?

A source said: ‘The president and Andrew are close friends. They appear to have common interests and a shared sense of humour. Andrew is always laughing at Ilham’s jokes. which are usually about women.’

Aliyev is a man with unusual friends. One is Jahangir Askerov, the country’s leading oligarch, who the president was apparently very keen for Andrew to get to know.

Prince Andrew meets Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan

A highly placed source said: ‘Askerov has met Andrew several times. Rumours are rife that he is trying to gain a commercial foothold in Britain and that Andrew has been advising him.’

In his unpaid role as special envoy, Andrew travels extensively promoting British business and many attest to his success. But it is success that is difficult to quantify.

And in Baku last week he performed a run-of-the-mill round of duties, addressing an oil conference, meeting the chairman of the country’s national bank, visiting the state oil company and a school, and attending an embassy party. He was also given a presentation by a British company, Landis-Gyr, which manufactures electricity and gas meters.

As Andrew is at pains to point out, there are many opportunities for UK firms – BP is the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan’s oil industry.

But one of the country’s leading independent journalists, Ibrahim Bayandurlu, said: ‘We just do not understand exactly what it is Andrew does, or why he needs to come here so often. But what is clear is that Ilham Aliyev likes having him around. Even if his power is only really symbolic, Ilham sees him as someone who can open doors.’

Andrew met President Aliyev again last week, although it was not clear whether he experienced his legendary hospitality. The Mail on Sunday has learned that on previous visits, the Prince spent time at the ruler’s personal spa, whose opulence is said to be extraordinary.

‘It is something that the president likes to show off and where he encourages visiting dignitaries to unwind,’ said a source. ‘There is a blind masseur from Moscow who is said to be the best in the business.’

Buckingham Palace said: ‘A number of factors are considered when selecting methods of transport for Royal engagements, including security, safety and any operational requirements, suitability for the occasion and optimising use of time.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191313/Azerbaijan-Andy–Prince-takes-60k-private-jet-oil-rich-friends-hardline-ex-Soviet-state.html

Azerbaijan manipulated the voting in the final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest

Armenian broadcaster APT accusses the broadcaster of the neighbouring country Azerbaijan to have manipulated the voting during the final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest by obscuring the screen when the Armenian televoting number was shown. Political relations between the two countries have been tense for more than 20 years.

APT launched an official complaint to the EBU claiming a severe violation of the Eurovision Song Contest rules. Like in 2008, Azerbaijan gave no points to Armenia. However, even if Azerbaijan had given 12 points to Armenia, the country would have still finished in tenth place behind Bosnia & Herzegovina. Armenia gave one single point to the representatives from Azerbaijan, AySel & Arash, who finished third.

The EBU has stated that they cannot comment on the story yet as they have no proof of the accusations so far. However, they are investigating and will report about the outcome in the next two days.

Armenia took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the fourth time in 2008 and achieved its fourth top ten placing in a row, although the tenth place for Inga & Anush with Nor par is still the lowest result to date.

http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/14103

Eurovision 2009 – Azerbaijan steals from Iran …

Eurovision 2009 – Georgia, Putin, Azerbaijan and Iran …

The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is just over in Moscow. As one of the unexpected aspects of Eurovision – World’s largest musical contest – the observers mention its growing political background. Using popularity and huge worldwide audience of Eurovision, some countries use this song contest to promote political goals. The first example of this sort in Eurovision 2009 was the song “We Don’t Wanna Put In” performed by Stephane & 3G  and presented to contest by Georgia. The song sounded like a thinly-disguised attack on Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, just after the Russian-Georgian war in South Ossetia in 2008. But Georgia withdrew from Eurovision 2009 after being ordered by the organizers to change the “political” lyrics of its entry. So the song “We Don’t Wanna Put In” was not included in the program of the contest.

Stephane & 3G

Conflict in Georgia

The next example was the clip “Always” by AySel & Arash presented by Azerbaijan. In decorations and haircut of the actress, who presented Azerbaijan, the image-makers from Baku used images of Poets’ Mausoleum in Tabriz in Iran as an illustration of Azeri-Türk culture. The observers consider this to be a promotion of ideas of unification of Northern Azerbaijan (Baku) and Southern Azerbaijan (Tabriz).

AySel & Arash Decoration Panturanist Map

Haircut a-la Poets’ Mausoleum Poets’ Mausoleum in Tabriz in Iran

Grandmother and Grandfather monument

Interestingly, the organizers of Eurovision 2009 allowed the Iran-related decorations used by Azerbaijan, although they did not allow Armenia to use a photo of the Armenian Grandmother and Grandfather monument just because it is on the territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan accepts that Grandmother and Grandfather is an Armenian monument, but did not allow Eurovision to display it because they argue it would be promotion of the Armenian approach to the Karabakh conflict. And in Azerbaijan the phone number to vote for Armenia was blocked, at all.

It remains to very much regret that World’s largest song contest is becoming a battleground for political promotion. Fortunately, the winner of Eurovision 2009 was Alexander Rybak of Norway with song “Fairytale” not related to politics at all. Alexander Rybak of Norway

ttp://itsgnb.blogspot.com/2009/05/eurovision-2009-georgia-putin.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEvpJIBBr4A

Azeri police manhandling peaceful protesters

Youth protest in Azerbaijan. Police mishandling peaceful protesters.

Youth activist expelled from university

According to Dalga Youth Movement, the head of its Southern Regional Office Parviz Azimov has been expelled on fake charges from Lankaran State University, where he was a senior student. However, the real cause between this expulsion was Parviz’s investigation into the corruption cases at Lankaran State University, results of which he published as an article titled “Open Bazaar in Closed Rooms“. Here is a re-posting of that article (in Azeri).

For more information about this issue read my blog post at Frontline Club, or this Global Voices Online round-up.

On 17 April, Parviz Azimov held a press-conference about his expulsion. What seems from his words is that university has organized a provocation against him with the help of another student, Elvir Rustamov. Afterwards Parviz Azimov was expelled from university for a participation in an alleged fight at university’s yard. Moreover, Parviz was officially notified about his expulsion three weeks after the actual decision was signed by university rector.

Photo caption: Parviz Azimov (right), with Zahir Amanov (editor-in-chief of Janub Khabarlary, a provincial newspaper and Vafa Jafarova (Chairwoman of Dalga) at the press-conference. (photo from Ria.az)

Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety has contacted Lankaran State University for clarifications. And here comes the real surprise!

Deputy Rector of the university, Shovkat Bakhshiyeva has told IRFS that Parviz Azimov was expelled from the university for violating internal discipline rules. Besides, he is suspected to be involved in a drug business, though internal investigation couldn’t reveal any evidences.