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BAKU. March 10, 2010. An Azerbaijani court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by two bloggers jailed after satirizing the government with an Internet video that showed a donkey giving a press conference, their lawyer said.

The case of the bloggers intensified concerns about media freedoms in Azerbaijan, an oil-rich mainly Muslim republic on the Caspian Sea which has been repeatedly accused by rights groups of curbing free speech.

Baku. March 8, 2010:  “The adoption of the alleged Armenian genocide resolution by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs is the demonstration of double standards,” said Elnur Aslanov, chief of the political analysis and informational provision department of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration, APA reports. Elnur Aslanov said first of all, one-vote margin after the recount was confusing.

BAKU: Iceland Review's photographer and deputy editor Pall Stefansson was arrested twice in Azerbaijan while shooting photos for a book on the world's most polluted places. Sumqayit, Azerbaijan's third largest city, is among these places.

PALM JUMERIAH. March 5, 2010: The Washington Post made a journalist investigation uncovering the purchase of expensive real estate under the name of the children of the Azeri president Ilham Aliyev. The newspaper writes that Ilham Aliyev's annual salary as president is the equivalent of $228,000, far short of what is needed to buy even the smallest Palm property.

BAKU. March 5, 2010: Thomas Hammerberg, Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, continues his official visit to Azerbaijan. Yesterday he had already visited Nakhchivan, including the village of Bananyar, where the shocking police brutalities had been reported. Thomas Hammerberg also met with the Azeri president Ilham Aliyev and other senior officials in the Azeri government discussing the human rights.

Today, Thomas Hammerberg met with the representatives of Azerbaijani media. Hammerberg held a meeting with Azer Ahmadov, Azadlig daily’s executive director, Mehman Aliyev, director of Turan Information Agency, and Vusala Mahirgyzy, director of the APA News Agency at the Baku office of the Council of Europe.

VIENNA. March 4, 2010: The Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklós Haraszti made a report to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) regarding the situation with freedom of media at the OSCE member-states. Speaking about the situation in Azerbaijan, Harazsti had this to say: “I am following the case of young video bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. 

BAKU. March 4, 2010: Turan News Agency interviewed Gabriel Keller, the French ambassador to Azerbaijan asking questions about the foreign and domestic policy issues affecting the relations between Azerbaijan and France.  Below is the full text of the interview:

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Lately, complaints have been raised about the particular communication style of the critics of Azeri government. Namely, they have been accused of using insulting terms against those who openly or indirectly defend the Azerbaijani dictatorship. Such name-calling as “suckup” and “toady” to describe their position seem to fall short of the high conversation standards the pro-government forces would prefer to maintain. It should also be noted that the use of police sticks, arbitrary arrests, extra-judicial beatings and torture by the authorities constitutes an integral component of any intelligent and civil public discourse, and does not in any way warrant reverting to demeaning expressions against the government and its supporters.  Indeed, such an important matter deserves appropriate reflection. The question to be answered is: “What would be the non-insulting, diplomatic and respectful, but yet correct and descriptive, term for such groups?”

BAKU. March 3, 2010: Accused journalist Eynulla Fatullayev appealed to the Baku Appellate Court against the Garadagh Court’s decision to prolong the investigation against him for additional two months to include the new accusation of illegal drug possession. A copy of the appeal was sent to Turan agency.... "Others stopped investigating, but I continued, and came to the conclusion that all suspicions led to one person – the MNS officer Akif Chovdarov," he said.  In this regard, Fatullayev sent letters to Deputy National Security Minister Hilal Asadov and the Attorney General, informed lawyers Isakhan Ashurov and Elton Guliyev, as well as the human rights defenders Murad and Rena Saddadinovs.  Fatullayev believes that was the main reason for his arrest.

BAKU. March 3, 2010: Today, the Azeri Defense Ministry reported that Azerbaijan’s military plane SU-25 crashed in Shamkir region during the training flight at 17:00.  The local media reported about the possibility of pre-crash explosion in the plane.  The pilot Famil Mammadli died.  Defense Ministry and Military Prosecutor Office are investigating the incident. The latest military plane crash, prior to this incident, was on January 29, 2008, when MIG-29 crashed near the village of Shurabad.  Both pilots had died in that case. The plane crashed into the sea and sunk (Turan).

WASHINGTON. March 2, 2010. Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy (AZAD) issued a press-release commemorating the late journalist Elmar Huseynov who was murdered exactly five years ago in Baku. The statement holds the Azerbaijani authorities responsible for failure to bring his killers to justice and condemns the creation of an environment where journalists and dissidents are killed, routinely jailed and physically attacked.

AZAD appeals to the US government and Congress and the international community at large to consider this and other cases of persecution of free speech in formulating their relations with the regime in Baku and take concrete steps in defense of freedom and democracy in Azerbaijan.

Below is the text of the press-release:

BAKU. March 2, 2010: Representatives of Azerbaijan’s pro-democracy political forces visited Elmar Huseynov’s grave on the occasion of fifth anniversary of his death. Elmar Huseynov was the editor of the anti-government magazine “Monitor.” On March 2, 2005 he was shot several times and killed at the doorsteps of his apartment by unidentified people.

Journalists, party leaders, diplomatic missions, etc, participated in the ceremony, and expressed indignation that this murder case is still uncovered.

"This murder will be uncovered only after the resignation of the people representing the incumbent political regime in Azerbaijan," said Isa Gambar, leader of Musavat party.

BAKU. March 2, 2010: Rushana Huseynova, the widow of Monitor magazine’s murdered editor-in-chief Elmar Huseynov, has emigrated to Norway. Recently, she has filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Human Rights against the Azerbaijani government with help from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Huseynova and Berit Lindeman, chairman of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, answered questions from Turan.

- Why did you decide to take the matter to court?

WASHINGTON DC. March 2, 2010: "The United States is a strong friend of Azerbaijan and is committed to working together with the Azerbaijani government and its people to support the development of a secure, prosperous, and democratic state," said U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns.

BAKU. March 1, 2010: Elmar Huseynov Foundation held an event dedicated to the fifth anniversary of Elmar Huseynov, an Azeri journalist with dissident political views who was shot dead in front of his house five year ago on March 2, 2005.  Elmar Huseynov’s friends, diplomats, deputies and politicians spoke about the reasons behind this murder and its consequences.

BAKU. March 1, 2010: Eynulla Fatullayev, the jailed editor-in-Chief of Realny Azerbaijan, has appealed to the Interior Minister, the head of the Penitentiary Service, Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders, and the Journalists Protection Committee about harassments against him. In his appeal, the journalist stated that the operation "Heroine" against him in December, was part of a plan to kill him.

BAKU. February 26, 2010: Today Azerbaijan observes the 18^th anniversary of the Khojali genocide. At night from February 25 to February 26, Khojali, the second largest town in Mountainous Garabagh, was attacked and occupied by the military forces of the Armenian separatists with the help of the Russian army’s motorized infantry battalion No. 366.

The Armenian and Russian soldiers seized the city and savagely killed hundreds of people, including pregnant women, children, and old people. For several days, the invaders executed prisoners, raped women and children, decapitated heads and hanged soldiers. click here for video

WASHINGTON DC. February 26, 2010: TURAN’s Washington DC correspondent interviewed the U.S. Congressman Michael McMahon, who recently joined the working group on Azerbaijan in Congress:

Q. There are some worries in Baku about the U.S.-Azerbaijan relations: The new ambassador of the U.S. to Azerbaijan has still not been appointed (for more than 6 months), and there have not been many high level visits between the two countries for that period. Do you share these worries?

BAKU. February 25, 2010: The satirical poet and former political prisoner, Mirza Sakit, has been invited to Germany by The Protection of Political Prisoners Society for a year, Sakit told Turan.

"I am going to leave on March 10 for Hamburg. All expenses will be paid by Germany, and I will be given a monthly grant. I will spend the time translating and publishing my books in German. I want to write a new book on Azerbaijan’s political life," he said.

BAKU. February 25, 2010: Currently Azerbaijan is exporting to Iran y 2 million cubic meters of gas daily, Iranian ambassador to Baku Mamedbagir Bahrami said at the press-conference on Februaty 25.

According to the contract signed in mid January in Baku, 800,000 cubic meters of this volume is transported to Nakhchivan, and 1,2 million cubic meters to the northern provinces of Iran.

BAKU. February 24, 2010: The latest amendments to the Azerbaijani legislations related to media and NGO activities were a focus of attention of debates held at the Norwegian Human Rights House on February 23. Representatives of Azerbaijani civil society, international organizations and foreign human rights defenders took part in discussions.

BAKU. February 24, 2010: Yesterday, RFE/RL correspondent Anna Zamejc interviewed Peter Semneby, the EU Special Representative on South Caucasus asking questions about the purposes of his visit:

How do you view these amendments? Some claim they further undermine the freedom of media in Azerbaijan, particularly hamper investigative journalism.

This is among the topics that not only I have brought up but also other representatives of the EU have brought up. There are indeed aspects here I should call “questionable”.

NAKHCHIVAN. February 24, 2010: Yesterday, Rza Nuriyev, the chairman of Julfa District branch of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) died out of a heart attack.  Rza Nuriyev had been accused by the Nakhchivani authorities of stirring up disturbances in Bananyar village on December 28, 2009.  Shortly after the police crackdown on the village Rza Nuriyev had been abducted by unknown people and taken away.  It appeared that he had been arrested by the Nakhchivani security forces, which kept him in captivity for 17 days.  Rza Nuriyev was released from jail on January 22. For more on human rights situation in Nakhchivan see NHC Report: "Nakhchivan: Azerbaijan's Dark Island" (Azerireport).

NEW York. February 24, 2010: The General Assembly this afternoon recognized the International Day of Nowruz, a spring festival of Persian origin, and moved back the dates of the next high-level dialogue on Financing for Development, as it continued its sixty-fourth session.   According to the preamble of the resolution on the International Day (document A/64/L.30/Rev.2), Nowruz, which means new day, is celebrated on 21 March, the day of the vernal equinox, by more than 300 million people worldwide as the beginning of the new year. The text was introduced by Azerbaijan’s representative, who said that, as a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world with themes important to all humanity, Nowruz encouraged intercultural dialogue and understanding. 

BAKU. February 23, 2010: At least 5-7% believers in Azerbaijan practice Islam. However, all people discontent with the current regime can unite under the Islamic banner,” said Arif Yunus, author of “Islam In Azerbaijan” book, in his interview to Turan.

BAKU. February 23, 2010: Five Islamists that were involved in the clashes with policemen on February 13 have been arrested. On that time over hundred believers attempted to march from Haji Soltan Ali mosque to the Alley of Martyrs marking the day of Prophet Mohammad’s death. click here for video  Akif Heydarli, press officer of the Islamic party, said the party had set up a Committee to Protect the detained activists and that the Committee would hold its first session today.   “We think that the arrests are illegal and we will achieve their release. We are going to appeal to the international community,” Heydarli said.

YEREVAN. February 23, 2010: Igor Popov, Russian Ambassador to Mozambique since 2005, will replace Yuri Merzlyakov as the OSCE Minsk Group’s Russian co-chair, a diplomatic source in Yerevan reported.

The Estonian media report that Yuri Merzlyakov will be appointed the Russian Ambassador to Estonia. Igor V. Popov (born in 1954) graduated from Moscow State Institute for International Affairs (MGIMO) in 1976. He has been working at the Russian Foreign Ministry since 1981. Popov has held various diplomatic positions at the Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian diplomatic missions abroad. In 2000 he was appointed First Department Deputy Director for Commonwealth of Independent States. Since 2005 Popov has served in the capacity of Russian Ambassador to Mozambique. Igor Popov is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary 2nd class. He knows English and Portuguese. Azerbaijan has not commented on the information about Popov’s appointment, yet (Turan-ArmInfo).

BAKU. February 22, 2010: Today at 12.00 noon about 100 activists of the World Congress of Azerbaijanis and Movement of National Liberation of South Azerbaijan staged an unauthorized demonstration in front of the Iranian embassy in Baku. Click here for video The action was a response to an action of protest held in front of the Azeri embassy in Iran, where the protesters burned the Azeri flag to make their point about the police violence against Islamist rally in Baku on February 13. 

TEHERAN. February 22, 2010: An official Azeri delegation led by the speaker of the Azeri parliament Ogtay Asadov concluded three-day visit to Iran.

Before the visit, the Azerbaijani flag was burnt down during protests in Tehran.  Another problematic point was that the media controlled by the Azeri government had earlier accused Iran of organizing of anti-government action in Baku on February 13.

Meanwhile, Ogtay Asadov was received by the Iranian President, the parliamentary chairman, and the chief of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Supreme Security Council.

BAKU/22.02.10/TURAN: Terry Davidson, Head of Public relations Department of the U.S. Embassy visited Nakhchivan. It was familiarizing visit, Davidson told Turan.  The U.S. diplomat visited Nakhchivan’s Education Ministry, State University and the Milli Mejlis and had talks on possible cooperation.