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WASHINGTON, DC. May 16, 2012:  A bipartisan group of five U.S. senators has urged Azerbaijan to release political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev immediately.

In a letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the senators called Hajiyev’s arrest and “cruel treatment” a breach of his rights to freedom of expression and association.

Hajiyev, 30, is a former parliamentary candidate in the November 2010 election in Azerbaijan and a Harvard University graduate. He was arrested in March 2011 ahead of a planned demonstration against the Azerbaijani government that he helped organize.

WASHINGTON, DC. May 15, 2012. We are all used to politicians adjusting their message towards different audiences, and saying things which do not completely reflect the reality or might not seem to be fully justified. However, at certain points they occasionally stop making sense altogether and venture into the zone of absurdity or obvious propaganda. Congressman Gerry Connolly (D – Virginia) crossed those boundaries when he claimed that “Azerbaijan can be a model for the countries which experienced Arab Spring”.

One can only wonder what the people of Arab Spring countries might think, after paying a heavy price in blood and suffering to free themselves from corrupt dictators, about the Congressman’s recommendation to follow, as their new role model, a dynastical dictatorship with a dismal record on human rights and pervasive corruption reaching all the way to the ruling family. The country that Congressman Connolly, a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, was advising Egyptians, Libyans, Tunisians, and Syrians to look after is currently ruled by Ilham Aliyev, who inherited the presidency from his late KGB general father Heydar Aliyev after elections marred by wholesale fraud and violence against opposition protests.

WASHINGTON, DC. May 15, 2012: Yesterday, Amnesty International called on Azerbaijan police to immediately end the use of violence to suppress freedom of expression, following two separate peaceful protests that were broken up by police in the capital city Baku on Monday.

Local activists told Amnesty International that opposition party members were specifically targeted at rallies in Baku's Sabir Garden area and in front of the city authorities' offices. Independent video footage from the scene shows police roughing up demonstrators as they are being dragged away.

BAKU. May 14, 2012:  Today, the Public Chamber of the Azerbaijani opposition held a protest rally in front of the Mayoral Administration of Baku.  Click here for video Protesters demanded that the Azerbaijani government respected the right of the Azerbaijani citizens to freedom of assembly and released the opposition activists jailed for their participation in opposition rallies.  The Azerbaijani government maintains that it has the right to restrict the freedom of assembly for political reason and that every opposition rally has to be allowed ("sanctioned") by the executive authorities before the opposition takes its supporters to the streets.  This rally of the opposition was "unsanctioned" and the police attacked the protesters.  18 protesters were detained and later released by the police.  This time police used extra force in beating and detaining the opposition activists which can be explained by the Azerbaijani government's desire to quell the protests before the kickstart of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku in late May.  Below are the photos frmo the opposition rally:

By Khadija Ismayilova, OCCRP, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Later this month, the eyes of the world will be focused on a shimmering glass and steel building newly erected on the shores of the Caspian Sea to welcome the pop stars and television crews from more than 40 European countries who will broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 spectacle.

Azerbaijan won hosting rights to the popular extravaganza last year when the Azerbaijani pop duo of Ell and Nikki sang their way to victory in Eurovision 2011.  The Azerbaijan government responded proudly with plans for a new $134 million concert showplace called the Crystal Hall which seats 23,000.  Finished only a few weeks ago, it was a tense race to get the venue ready in time. Its importance was signaled by the frequent visits made by President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva to the bold geometric structure as it rose amidst the construction site.

LONDON. May 9, 2012: The Foreign Policy Centre, UK based independent progressive foreign affairs think tank, announced the launch of a new publication, Spotlight on Azerbaijan. The document brings together the analysis of leading experts on Azerbaijan to look at the key human rights and governance issues in Azerbaijan including democratic development, rule of law, media freedom and property rights, while examining the impact of its international relationships, the economy and the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on domestic issues. Click here for the full report in pdf 

 NEW DELHI. May 9, 2012: State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp aims to sign its first-ever annual import deal to buy 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Azerbaijan's national oil company SOCAR, a source with knowledge of the deal said on Wednesday.

By Nina Ognianova/CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator

The workshop was held at the broadcasting union's headquarters in Geneva on the eve of World Press Freedom Day and in the run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest, which Baku will host later this month.

We are deeply concerned by the defiant attitude shown by Azerbaijani government representative Ali Hasanov, also an adviser to President Ilham Aliyev, at the workshop, which invalidates his stated willingness to have a constructive dialogue with critics. We are also disappointed at the failure of the EBU to publicly criticize or in any way challenge Azerbaijani authorities on their press freedom, human rights, and freedom of expression record--this has left an impression of wilful blindness toward the government's repressive policies.

BAKU. May 8, 2012: On the eve of 67th anniversary of the end of the World War II, pro-government media in Azerbaijan unilaterally suspended the information war against Germany.

BAKU. May 7, 2012: Today, the Public Chamber of the Azerbaijani opposition held a protest rally in downtown Baku, in front of the Mayoral Administration of the city. The protest rally followed the refusal of the Mayoral Administration of Baku to sanction an opposition rally in a suitable location in Baku. The Mayoral Administration insisted that the opposition held its rally in Bayil, in a remote suburban area of Baku, a place which the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev ironically referred to as "a right location for the activities of those kind of people." As the police tried to disperse the crowd by using brute force, the protesters clashed with the police. The protest action ended after the protesters chanted their slogans in front of the Mayoral Administration. The police released the protesters detained during this protest as the opposition activists agreed to peacefully disperse after the protest action. Below are the photos from the event:

BAKU. May 6, 2012. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has returned on May 5th to Baku from his US trip, according to the Azerbaijan’s official state news agency AzerTaj. During his visit, Mr. Aliyev participated in UN Security Session, of which Azerbaijan holds the presidency this month, and met with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He also met foreign ministers of three countries – Argentina, Togo, and Germany, as well as the Commander of the US Transportation Command, General William Fraser, with whom he discussed Azerbaijan’s participation in Afghanistan war effort.

By Nushabe Fatullayeva and Khadija Ismayilova (RFE/RL)

WASHINGTON, DC. May 4, 2012: Is Matthew Bryza too optimistic about Azerbaijan? On May 2, just three days after the US Senate received White House notification that President Obama has withdrawn the nomination of Matthew Bryza for the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan position, the Illinois diplomat, who moved to Turkey right after returning from Baku, showed-up in Washington DC- based Jamestown Foundation and criticized the Administration’s current South Caucasus policy, TURAN’s Washington, DC correspondent Alakbar Raufoglu reports.

“I know that everybody here in the US Government thinks that we’re focusing on the South Caucasus issues and all of our priorities, but the countries in the region don’t feel that. They feel very much drift”, Bryza said in front of Washington’s think-tank and diplomatic community.

By Elmar Chakhtakhtinski

Azerbaijani President Aliyev is visiting the United States. As expected, different experts, lobbyists and politicians will be explaining the reasons why the leader of a corrupt regime with one of the worst records on human rights should be supported as America’s “strategic ally”. In doing so, too smart to use any crude propaganda materials produced by the government in Baku, they will resort to their two most popular arguments.

First, the apologists will say that a young country like Azerbaijan, stuck in a turbulent region, currently requires a strong leader more than democracy. That is what can provide stability and continuity much needed for securing both the country’s own future and the Western interests in the region. Sounds reasonable, thoughtful – exactly as a real expert opinion should?

BAKU. May 3, 2012. According to Azerbaijani state news Agency “AzerTaj”, President Ilham Aliyev has arrived to the United States on May 2nd for a working visit. Mr. Aliyev will participate in the events related to the 20-year anniversary of Azerbaijan joining the United Nations and preside over the session of UN Security Council. Azerbaijan holds rotating presidency of the UN Security Council this month.

President Aliyev is also listed among the expected participants of the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21. Mr. Aliyev was reported by the Azerbaijani press to plan a visit to DC as well during his US trip, where he would speak at think tank events, but the presidential administration did not respond to the inquiries about details of the visit and any meetings between the Azerbaijani President and the US officials. (AzeriReport)

Or How President’s Daughters Ended Up Owning Mega-Million Dollars Holding Company

The current article is based on the results of a new investigation presented by the US-based non-profit organization Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy (AZAD). It is a logical sequence to the series of recent reports about an enormous wealth accumulated by Azerbaijan’s ruling family. Previous investigations by Radio Liberty journalist Khadija Ismayilova about President’s daughter owning the mobile phone operator “Azerfon” and commercial bank “Azalbank”, an article in Washington Post on luxury Dubai villas belonging to President’s 11-years old son, and the CNBC documentary “Filthy Rich”, vividly portraying the corrupt fortunes of Aliyev family, – all drew a lot of attention from worldwide audiences.

Founded in 2003, “ATA-Holding” is one of the largest conglomerates in today’s Azerbaijan, encompassing a diverse group of companies in financial, manufacturing, tourist and other industries. Among its holdings are the banks “ATA Bank” and “VTB Bank (Azerbaijan)”, insurance company “ATA Insurance”, leasing company “ATA Leasing”, hotel “Excelsior” and many other enterprises in different sectors of the country’s economy.

WASHINGTON, DC. April 27, 2012: U.S. President Barack Obama is to nominate Richard Morningstar as ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Morningstar is the secretary of state's special envoy for Eurasian energy.

He also served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union between 1999 and 2001.

Morningstar would replace Mathew Bryza, who left the post in January after serving about a year as a special appointment of Obama.

Bryza's nomination was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate due to opposition by Armenian-American lobbying groups and several senators, who accused Bryza of having a pro-Azerbaijani bias and questionable ties to Azerbaijani officials (RFE/RL).

By Shahnaz Huseynova (RFE/RL)

BAKU. September 27, 2012: At a defiant press conference in Baku, Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova lashed out at prosecutors looking into a smear campaign that was launched against her last month and which she believes is aimed at intimidating her into ending her journalistic investigations.

"I need to see progress in the course of the investigation," she said. "Unfortunately, I don't see any."

Last month, Ismayilova received an envelope with some intimate photographs of her and a note saying she would be "defamed" if she didn't "behave." A week later, a sexually explicit video appeared online that was filmed by a camera surreptitiously installed in her apartment. Almost simultaneously, a long, scurrilous article attacking Ismayilova was published in the official organ of the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party.

WASHINGTON, DC. April 27, 2012: Ross Wilson, former US ambassador in Azerbaijan, who currently chairs the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council, answered TURAN's Wasington DC correspondent Alakbar Raufoglu’s questions regarding the Prezident Obama's decision to nominate Richard Morningstar az the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

How do you think President Obama's nomination of an Ambassador to Azerbaijan will impact the current US-Azeri relations? What will be the challenges for Ambassador Morningstar in Baku?

Richard Morningstar will be an excellent American ambassador to Azerbaijan. He will restore strong senior leadership, will be able better to organize US diplomacy to support an effective bilateral relationship, and will represent us well with the broader public. His challenges will be the main issues on the bilateral agenda, which will not get any easier, of course. I am confident he will handle them exceptionally well.

PARIS. April 26, 2012: Reporters Without Borders condemns the two-month pre-trial detention order that a court in the Baku district of Nasimi issued on 22 March for two of the four journalists arrested in the northern town of Quba on 13 March over a YouTube video that triggered major protests and clashes with the police in Quba (see below).

The two journalists – Vugar Gonagov, the executive director of Khayal TV, and Zaur Guliyev, the station’s editor in chief – are facing up to three years in prison on charges of violating public order and abuse of authority under articles 233 and 309.2 of the criminal code.

They are currently being held at the interior ministry’s general directorate for organized crime, where they have still not been allowed to receive a visit from their lawyer, Elchin Sadigov.

BAKU. April 26, 2012: Today the German Embassy made a statement due to the publication on April 18 in the organ of the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan" and other anti-German materials in the pro-government media.

"The newspaper launched its offensive on the German political circles, creating a dangerous atmosphere of insincerity and breaking the culture of open discussion," the statement reads.

"However, attempts to spoil the positive image of Germany by gross speculation, are doomed to failure because of the intellectual level of the Azerbaijanis," emphasizes the embassy.

WASHINGTON DC. April 26, 2012: Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is expected to visit the United States in May. During his visit, Ilham Aliyev will chair the session of the UN Security Council meeting at which the chairmanship of Azerbaijan will begin.

As it became known from unofficial sources, preisdent Ilham Aliyev will visit Chicago to attend the summit of NATO and partner countries. The Azerbaijani president is also expected to make a speech in a number of analytical centers in Washington, DC. Turan failed to get comments in the presidential administration of Azerbaijan on the issue (Turan).

By Shahin Abbasov

Farhad G., 50, of Baku, Azerbaijan, has been trying to privatize his dacha, or country house, for more than two years.

“First I applied to the State Real-Estate Registry Service (SRERS – Daşınmaz Əmlakın Dövlət Reyestri Xidməti) with a request concerning dacha privatization,” Farhad said. “They sent two engineers who drafted a drawing of my dacha. For this ‘service’ I had to pay 50 manat (US$61) to each of them.”

The payment for service was a bribe. It wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last, if he wants to finally have the land registered to his name and not the government’s.

BAKU. April 25, 2012: Yesterday, 20 diplomats from many Western embassies including the embassies of the US, UK, France, Italy and Norway, as well as OSCE, CE and the EU discussed the political situation and other issues with the respresentatives of the Public Chamber of the opposition.  The diplomats discussed the democratization problems in Azerbaijan and listened to the points raised by the opposition representatives. The foreign diplomats' meeting with the opposition representatives caused a negative reaction from the Azerbaijani government.

Today, the First Vice-Speaker of Milli Majlis Ziyafat Asgarov made sharp comments on the actions of the Western diplomats. "I appeal to the current diplomatic corps in the country, if their meeting with opposition leaders to serve creating instability in the country, it means a direct interference in the internal affairs of the country, " he told a group of journalists.

PARIS. April 25, 2012: Today, the Reporters Without Borders released the annual Press Freedom Index, which reflects the state of press freedom in the world. The most free press is in Finland, and the most not-free in Eritrea.

This year, the Index included 179 countries. Azerbaijan on the level of freedom is on of the last places - 162, and compared to last year dropped by 10 points.

Azerbaijan in the past year was characterized by a strong desire to repress democratic opposition movement. Ilham Aliyev, just like President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, took revenge on the press for criticizing the government.

BAKU. April 24, 2012: Vidadi Iskenderov, a prisoner of conscience declared that he is going together with other prisoners of conscience start hunger strike until death on the eve of "Eurovision - 2012" Song Contest to be held on May. During the hearings at the Supreme Court, Iskenderov stressed that the prisoners of conscience were trying to attract attention of singers and journalists who would attend the music contest,  draw the attention of the international civil society to their unlawful arrest and continued imprisonment. "We are going to start hunger strike until death because of the imprisonment of innocent men"- Iskenderov said at his trial.

BAKU. April 24, 2012: Anglo Asian Mining said it had discovered gold at Ordubad mine, boosting its prospects for gold production in Azerbaijan, where it plans to increase production to over 300,000 ounces of the precious metal per year by 2015.

WASHINGTON. April 23, 2012. Chairman of Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy (AZAD), Elmar Chakhtakhtinski, gave interview to Azerireport regarding the latest developments in Azerbaijan in the wake of the upcoming Eurovision song contest to be held in Baku from May 22 to May 26.

- There have been three authorized opposition protest rallies within the past month in Azerbaijan. Is it an indicator of loosening political climate?

- Not at all. The Aliyev dictatorship has allowed demonstrations on the outskirts of Baku on several occasions in the past. But the indisputable fact is that protest rallies in central parts of Baku, including the ones in public squares specifically designed for public gatherings, are brutally attacked by the police and government agents in civilian clothes. Thus, the Azerbaijani people have been denied their very basic right of assembly, guaranteed both by Azerbaijani constitution and by international conventions.

The real fear of the Aliyev government, the nightmare scenario for it, I would say, is the outbreak of public protests in the center of Baku during the Eurovision song contest. By letting opposition groups hold authorized rallies on the outskirts before the contest begins, the government hopes to be able to prevent public protests during Eurovision.

BAKU. April 22, 2012: Today, the Public Chamber of the opposition forces in Azerbaijan held a protest rally in a square near Bayil, suburbs of Baku. Click here for video The rally was sanctioned by the Mayoral Administration of Baku. Due to the remoteness of the location frmo the city center, difficult access to the venue by public transport and the police cordon limiting the transportation to that place, the participation in the rally was limited. Several thousand people participated in the rally, nevertheless. The opposition leaders including the PFPA chairman Ai Karimli and the Musavat leader Isa Gambar made speeches, vowed to continue the struggle for the democratization of Azerbaijan and announced the time for the next rally of the opposition - May 6. Below are the photos from the rally:

BAKU. April 20, 2012: The Mediaforum website reports that the Azerbaijani parliament adopted new amendments to the Law on Political Parties.  The new legal provisions provide for public funding of the political parties.  The public funding is tied to the performance of the political parties at the parliamentary elections.  10% of the funds allocated for financing the political parties in the country will be distributed pro rata among the political  parties who received more than 3 % of the votes, but were not represented in the parliament.  40% of the funds will be divided equally among the parties represented in the parliament. 50% of the funds will be distributed among the political parties represented in the parliament on a pro rata basis according to the number of the parliamentarians from those political parties.  The public funds will be calculated for each party separately even if several parties created an election block and run a joint campaign to win the seats in the parliament.

BAKU. April 20, 2012: Police filed a new charge against Ogtay Gulaliyev, the activist of Kur Civic Society who was arrested on charges of breaking public order in Sabirabad on April 8.  The spokesman for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior Ehsan Zahidov said the police instituted a criminal investigation against Ogtay Gulaliyev under Article 220.2 of the Criminal Code (making a call to actively disobey the legal orders of the representatives of authorities, making public incitements to cause violence).  Mehman Aliyev, director of Turan News Agency and activist of Kur Civic Society, said the fact that the police came up with a new charge right on the day when Ogtay Gulaliyev was to be freed from jail after serving his 12 day imprisonment under the charges of administrative violation shows that the police is breaking the law. 

Mehman Aliyev added that this investigation was aimed at intimidating the civic organizations which investigated the government expenditures on dealing with the problems created by the flooding of the river Kur.  Mehman Aliyev said the new presidential decree recently allocated 50 million manats (about $60 million) to deal with the problems of the Kur region and that this investigation was aimed at scaring away the civic organizations, so that the government officials could peacefully embezzle those funds.  “This is scaring off the public and saying ‘we will stop at nothing, we shall arrest, imprison’,” said Mehman Aliyev.