Journalists Will Not Be Able to Take Photos or Shoot Videos In Azerbaijan
BAKU. February 8, 2010: The authorities want to ban journalists from taking photos and audio recordings, as well as filming people through video-cameras without their consent even in public places, Panah Huseyn, Deputy of the Azeri parliament from the opposition, told Turan.
"The amendments were submitted to parliament as a presidential legislative initiative on December 21, 2009. The amendments were discussed and adopted at two parliamentary committees," the Deputy said. He said the amendments were proposed after photos and videos of high-ranking officials were placed online. The amendments were approved last week by the Parliamentary committees on Legal Policy, State-Building and Human Rights and were included into the agenda for the parliamentary session on February 12. According to the amendment to Article 60 of the Media Law, "media cannot take photos and videos of people without their consent, except for retrieval operations."
BAKU. February 8, 2010: U.S. Congressman Michael McMahon joined working group for Azerbaijan, press office of Azeri Foreign Ministry reported.
Michael McMahon has been a member of the Chamber of Representatives from New York since 2008. He is a democrat, and a member of the congressional subcommittee for European Affairs. Together with Michael McMahon there are 42 members of the working group of the U.S. Congress for Azerbaijan (Turan).
BAKU. February 6, 2010: Aliyev’s country is also of significant strategic interest to Europe as it sits on an estimated five trillion cubic metres of natural gas. Euronews went to the Azerbaijani capital Baku, to ask President Aliyev. click for video
Euronews: But in March 2009, there was a referendum, and there has been a change in the constitution, which abolished presidential term limits. Do you want to remain in office indefinitely?
Aliyev: Well, that was not made for any kind of personal reasons. This practice exists in many countries.
BAKU. February 5, 2010: The Judicial Council held a session with the participation of the representatives from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the Attorney General’s Office, Azerbaijani Bar Association and judges from Baku and the regions of Azerbaijan. Judicial Council is the governmental inter-agency body overseeing the judiciary bodies.
The Judicial Council’s press release reads that the session stressed that some of the judges violated the law, including sanctioning the groundless arrests.
“Rasmiya Gahramanova, judge of Binagadi District Court of Baku, Sudaba Mammadova, judge of Yasamal District Court of Baku and Yusif Kerimov, judge of Sabunchu District Court of Baku were dismissed for blatant violation of the law,” read the press release. The concrete violations which led to the punishment of the judges in Baku were not indicated in the press-release.
BAKU. February 4, 2010: During the past six months the special commission of linguistic scientists set up by Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences worked out the concept of names and family names and submitted it to the presidential administration, Nizami Jafarov, MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Science, Culture and Education, told Turan.
BAKU. February 4, 2010: Yesterday, employees of the European Commission Office in Azerbaijan Manfredas Limantas and Jerome Pons met with the representatives of non-registered non-governmental organizations (NGO): Razi Nurullayev and Ogtay Gulaliyev, the сo-chairmen of the Society for Democratic Reforms, as well as Mansura Rasulzade, the head of the Public Union Alliance. Both these structures enter the NGO Coordination Council.
SOFIA. February 4, 2010: The planned Nabucco pipeline leapfrogged another hurdle on Wednesday when the Bulgarian parliament ratified the intergovernmental agreement (IGA), which had been signed by the project's host countries Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria in July last year.The IGA lays down the legal transit and tax conditions for the €7.9 billion ($11.8 billion) planned gas pipeline. Bulgaria is the second transit country to formally back the IGA, after the Hungarian parliament ratified the accord in October last year (see Gas Matters Today, October 20, 2009).
BAKU. February 3, 2010: Yasamal court chaired by Khagani Tagiyev processed the claim of Interior Minister against Eyyub Karimov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Femida 007 and a lawyer. The judge found Karimov guilty under the Article 147.2 of the Criminal Code.
Karimov was sentenced to 18 months of communal labor (it will be expressed in 15% monthly deduction from his salary, Turan was told by Alirza Abilov, the representative of Interior Ministry at the court.
WASHINGTON DC. February 3, 2010: Director of U.S. National Intelligence Dennis Blair believes that Caucasus and Balkans are still unstable.
TURAN’s Washington correspondent reports that on February 2, the head of the CIA spoke at the US Senate making the following statement: “Fighting could flare between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh”.
“The unresolved conflicts of the Caucasus provide the most likely flashpoints in the Eurasia region”, Blair told on the hearing on “Current and Projected Threats to the United States”.
BAKU. February 2, 2010: “If urgent measures are not taken, the events in Dashkesen can repeat in Beylagan region. Soldiers are subjected to humiliation and insult, the complaints of their parents are ignored, and those who complain are arrested,” said Suleyman Mammadly, Editor in Chief of Hurriyet Newspaper at today’s press-conference, held at the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety. Suleyman Mammadli’s son Altay Mammadov is serving in the army and is subjected to pressure.
BAKU. February 2, 2010: Immediately after the yesterday's report of the Court Medical Examiner where it was testified that there was no trace of narcotics in the blood and urine samples taken from the jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, a reverse statement was made by the same medical examiners. They said there were traces of narcotics in Eynulla Fatullayev's blood and urine samples. Eynulla Fatullayev himself, his family and his journalist colleagues maintain that the "narcotics accusation" is just a safety measure of the Azeri authorities to have an additional criminal charge hooked on the journalist whose present case is about to be heart at the European Court of Human Rights. Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of a popular anti-government newspaper was arrested on trumped up charges followed by the shut-down of his newspaper three years ago (Azerireport).
STRASBOURG. February 2, 2010: The International Human Rights Organization Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) prepared a special report on the violation of human rights in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) entitled "Dark Island: Human Rights Violations in Nakhchivan". The report was distributed to the participants t the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) during the winter session of this organization in an event organized by the Norwegian Rafto Foundation.
BAKU. February 2, 2010: Attorney General of Azerbaijan Zakir Garalov, commenting on last Friday’s tragic shooting incident in Dashkesen, said president Ilham Aliyev sent highly qualified specialists from the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of National Security and the Military Prosecution Office to investigate the events of Dashkesen.
In his interview with AzerTaj state agency, Garalov said despite the preliminary information given by the Defense Ministry and the Military Prosecutor’s Office, there were still misleading and biased versions of the event circulating in the media. Garalov said as a result of their preliminary investigation and search operations, deputy division commander, major Valad Gurbanov and platoon commander lieutenant Rustam Ahmedov were arrested for failure to provide the security while the soldiers cleaned their weapons.
BAKU. February 1, 2010: The Spring session of the Milli Mejlis opened on February 1. During a half-hour agenda discussion, deputy Jamil Hasanli noted the necessity of adopting a law "On oil", and complained that most new buildings were not supplied with natural gas.
Deputy Elmira Akhundova made a very surprising proposal. She suggested replacing the nationally celebrated International Women Day on March 8 with another holiday – celebrating the Azeri president’s deceased mother’s birthday. Elmira Akhundova said it was better to celebrate Mother’s day and the best way she though for doing it was to celebrate that Mother’s day on April 28, the birthday of Zarifa Aliyeva, the president Ilham’s Aliyev’s mother.
BAKU. February 1, 2010: On February 4, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will visit Berlin to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, German embassy sources in Baku told Turan.
The same source said after the meeting with Merkel, Aliyev would visit Munich to participate in the security issues conference on February 7 (Turan).
BAKU. February 1, 2010: The Court’s Medical Examination Experts disclosed their report on Eynulla Fatullayev’s medical condition. The jailed journalist Fatullayev was ordered by Court to take this examination after the police from correctional facility where the journalist was kept announced that they found heroine in the jail cell of Fatullayev. A number of international organizations called this a forgery. Today, the Court’s Medical Experts came up with a report saying Eynulla Fatullayev did not have any drug addiction and did not require any medical treatment in this regard. The defense team for the jailed journalist hopes that this report will help to clear the journalist form the new accusations brought on Fatullayev who is already serving time in jail (Azerireport).
BAKU. February 1, 2010: On Monday a group of people picketed outside the Interior Ministry protesting against the delay in investigating the December 31 hit-and-run accident on Heydar Aliyev Avenue near the "Shafa" stadium. On that day, an unknown driver hit Hakivar Najafov, a resident of Nakhchivan, whose condition is serious.
BAKU. January 30, 2010: Yesterday, the Military Prosecution Office held a session to discuss the general situation in the Azeri army. The chief Military Prosecutor Khanlar Veliyev spoke about the decrease of the crime rates in the army for 0. 9% as compared with 2008.
The number of facts of misconducts decreased by 11.4%, evasion from service in the army decreased by 19.9%, number of cases of leaving the military service without permission decreased by 63.1%. The Military Prosecution Office declared that 99.7% of the crimes in the army had been uncovered. According to official sources, Veliyev said nothing about the tragedy in Dashkesen where two soldiers shot six officers. click here for the list of the victims of the incident
BAKU. January 29, 2010: Two privates opened fire last night on six officers in an undisclosed military unit in Azerbaijan, killing four and wounding two. The servicemen later committed suicide. The Defense Ministry does not disclose details.
The Military Prosecutor’s has launched investigation into the case. Attorney General’s Office is holding a board session to discuss this issue. The Military Hospital in Baku told Azerbaijani Service they were ordered not to disclose any details about the murdered or the condition of the wounded servicemen.
BAKU. January 29, 2010: In the evening on January 29 press-service of the Azeri Defense Ministry published the names of the military servicemen shot by two soldiers in a shootout at the military unit in Dashkesen region. Their names are:
BAKU. January 28, 2010: On January 28, Yunis Aliyev, resident of Bananyar village of Nakhchivan, returned from Iran, where he had been undergoing hospital treatment since January 5. On December 28, 2009, Yunis Aliyev committed an act of self-immolation in protest of the police violence against the villagers.
His sister Kamala Aliyeva told Turan that Yunis had skin transplants on several parts of his body in Tebriz, Iran. “I can’t say that he has fully recovered. His fingers and toes do not work properly,” she added.
STRASBOURG. January 27, 2010: The Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan held meetings at Council of Europe in Strasbourg on January 25-27.
Human rights defenders Novella Jafaroglu, Sayida Gojamanli, Saadat Bananyarli and Chingiz Ganizade met with Thomas Hammerberg, the Council of Europe commissioner on human rights, Andres Herkel, co-rapporteur of PACE Monitoring Committee, Joseph Grech, the head of Ago Monitoring group, Stelian Stoyan, Gianni Buquicchio, the head of the CE Venice Commission, Petya Nesterova, the chairman of the Committee against Tortures and others.
BAKU. January 27, 2010: Today Azeri president Ilham Aliyev has departed to Switzerland to take part at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Over 2,500 delegates from 90 states will participate at the forum. The motto of the current forum is “Reconsider, Transform and Rebuild,” said the founder of the Davos Forum Claus Schwab.
Russia, China and the U.S. will not be represented by their leaders. There is no information whether Ilham Aliyev will meet with the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Davos similar to the previous year.
During the previous forum on January 28, 2009 the Azeri and Armenian parties held talks in Zurich first in presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen and then face-to-face (Turan).
WASHINGTON DC. January 27, 2010: “Risks of corruption depend on the local conditions in Azerbaijan”, - said Ms. Olajobi Makinwa,Senior Civil Society Coordinator at the UN Global Compact Office in an interview with Turan’s Washington correspondent.
She pointed out that, “the Oil and gas sector, construction, health are a few of sectors where corruption is rife in most parts of the world, including Azerbaijan”.
WASHINGTON DC. January 27, 2010: US Congressman John Shadegg (R AZ) send a letter to all members of Congress on January 26th, with the message “Don't forget Azerbaijan”. Below is the full text of the letter:
“Dear Colleagues:
Most of us have been heartened by the recent signing of protocols between Turkey and Armenia that are designed to lead to the normalization of relations between these two traditional enemies, both of whom are good friends of the United States. It is good to see Turkey starting to play a leadership role in the maintenance of stability in the volatile Caucuses region.
At the same time, it is important that the United States not forget the vital interests of Azerbaijan
STRASBOURG. January 26, 2010: Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has the plan of actions related to the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to be held in Azerbaijan in November 2010, Sergei Kuznetsov, secretary of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission Department of Elections and Referendums, told journalists. He said by the end of March the Venice Commission hoped to coordinate the plan of actions with the Azeri government and start its implementation in spring. “We will welcome the proposals from the Azeri government,” Kuznetsov said.
BAKU. January 26, 2010: Turan Information Agency reports that Ganimat Zahid, the jailed editor-in-chief of Azadlig newspaper, requested from his colleagues to stop publishing photos of the jailed journalists including himself on the front page. He explained this position with the failure of the photo-campaign to yield any results.
Ganimat Zahid’s wife Ayende Mursaliyeva conveyed this wish of her husband to the newspapers Azadlig and Yeni Musavat. Both newspapers initially complied. However, after complying with this request for two days Azalig newspaper resumed publishing the jailed journalists’ photos on the front page as a policy decision. The newspaper’s spokesman Azar Ahmadov said the newspaper would continue bringing the issue of jailed journalists to the agenda of the media regardless of the success of such campaign.
STRASBOURG. January 26, 2010: Council of Europe is concerned about political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Turbjern Jagland, CE General Secretary, said at a press conference in Strasbourg on Monday. “This is a very important issue and we very often discuss it with the Azerbaijani authorities,” Jagland said. Jagland has also expressed concern about the bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade, “who have been arrested for youth activities.” (Turan).
STRASBOURG. January 25, 2010: The Council of Europe (CE) has been working with Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations in front of this organization, said Luis Maria de Puig, chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) at a press conference in Strasbourg before the end of its winter session. Responding to the question on possible measures for resolving the problem of arrested bloggers and journalists in Azerbaijan, Puig, who is about to step down from his postion, said he discussed the question personally with president Ilham Aliyev, mambers of the Azeri government, Azeri representatives in Strasbourg and members of Azeri delegation to PACE.
STRASBOURG. January 25, 2010: Turkish Parliamentarian Mevlut Cavusoglu has been elected the new President of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) for the first time in PACE’s 61-year history. Cavusoglu is recognized in Azerbaijan as a person friendly to the Azeri government, a person who is not expected to be tough on democratization issues in Azerbaijan. In fact, the chairman of the Azeri delegation to PACE Samad Seyidov said the following about Cavusoglu’s election: “This is a historic event and is a response to the double-standards which have been observed in the activities of the Council of Europe time over time.”
The friendliness of the Turkish government officials with the Azeri government officials have reflected itself in a number of other cases, showing a trend reflecting the substitution of the Azeri people by the Azeri government in the minds of the Turkish politicians. Another Turkish representative to Council of Europe – Gaye Doganoglu, Congress of Local Self-Control Observation mission of Council of Europe was remembered in Azerbaijan by creating a political scandal in Azerbaijan: During the course of the consecutively scheduled meetings of the CE delegation with the Azeri government and the opposition, the opposition leaders were first made to wait at the doors for about an hour and then asked to leave the room because the delegation of Gaye Doganoglu decided to have a more extended meeting with YAP, the ruling party of Azerbaijan. The Azeri opposition left and refused to meet Gaye Doganoglu again.
SOCHI. January 25, 2010:Armenia and Azerbaijan will prepare proposals for the document dealing with the settlement of the Mountainous Garabagh conflict; the preamble of this document has been agreed, journalists were told by Russia’s Foreign Ministry head Sergey Lavrov discussing the results of the meeting of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian presidents in Sochi. "There is common understanding on the preamble of this document," Lavrov said. "But some parts of the document remain in disagreement; the sides will prepare concrete ideas for the wording of these parts, and they will be included in the text," the Minister said vaguely.
PRAGUE. January 23, 2010: The Azeri service of the RFE/RL reported that yesterday a group of people held actions of protest in Paris and London demanding freedom for the jailed Azeri bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. The action in Paris was joined by the Reporters Without Borders. About 50 protesters chanted slogans demanding immediate release of the jailed Azeri bloggers. Agil Khalil, the former reporter of the opposition newspaper Azadlig, who also participated in the action of protest, told the RFE/RL that the employees of the Azeri embassy in Paris were observing the rally from the windows of the embassy.
NAKHCHIVAN. January 22, 2009: The situation continues to remain tense in Bananyar village, following the Nakhchivan government’s orchestrated barrier against to the recent attempt of the Norwegian and US diplomats to enter the village. According to the villagers, those protesting the arrival of diplomats were brought from the neighboring villages purposely and most of them were informers for police.
BAKU. January 22, 2010: Today, judge Gail Mammadov from the Court of Appeals once again postponed the hearings of the appeal of bloggers Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. The new hearing date is appointed on February 6. The reason for the postponement was the illness of Isakhan Ashurov, the lawyer representing the bloggers’ case.
The previous postponement of the case (on January 8) was due to the absence of the alleged aggrieved parties - Babek Huseynov and Vusal Mammadov. They were absent at today’s hearing as well.
ASTANA. January 22, 2010: On Friday the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen issued a statement in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana. The statement reads:
"On January 20, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov, the Russian Federation; Ambassador Bernard Fassier, France; Ambassador Robert Bradtke, United States) met with the Armenian President Serzh Sargsian in Yerevan, Armenia.
BAKU. January 22, 2010: Debates "What is Lacking: Freedom of Speech or Professionalism?" were held today at the Media Center. The latest resolution of the European Parliament about the existing weaknesses regarding the situation with the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan was the main reason for holding those debates. The Azeri government was sharply criticized during those debates.
Director of Media Rights Institute Rashid Hajili and the head of Youth Union Council Vusala Huseynova were the speakers during this debate.
BAKU. January 21, 2010: Azerbaijan’s Election Code bears fundamental shortcomings and normal elections are impossible until they are eliminated. This is the opinion of the leader of Musavat Party Isa Gambar commenting on the upcoming parliamentary elections expected in November.
Isa Gambar said it was of primary importance to change the political composition of the election commissions at all levels. "Election commissions must be formed in such a way as to reflect a parity between the government and the opposition establishing the trust of the main players in the political process," Gambar said. Speaking about other important impediments to holding free and fair elections, Isa Gambar said it was necessary to fix the issue of the registration of candidates, so that the authorities cannot decline registering unwanted candidates.
WASHINGTON DC. January 21, 2010: Prominent American NATO analyst Stephen Larrabee believes Azerbaijan is not ready to join NATO.
In an interview with Turan’s Washington correspondent, Mr. Larrabee, who is serving as vice-president of the Institute for East-West Security Studies and as a RAND Corporation analyst, said a number of factors characterize the lack of readiness on Azerbaijan’s part to join NATO.
MOSCOW. January 21, 2010: "Gasprom" will double its gas purchases from Azerbaijan in 2011 from the present volumes of one billion cubic meters to two billion cubic meters of gas. The price for gas is not reported. Previously, both sides stated that the gas supply would match the global market price. However, no concrete figures have been disclosed by either side to verify the competitiveness of the prices offered by Russia to purchase the Azeri gas.
Rays in Azerbaijan - by Namiq Akhundov
Praise to Dictator
PACE Should Appoint Rappoteurs For Political Prisoners to South Caucasian Countries
BAKU. February 8, 2010: U.S. Congressman Michael McMahon joined working group for Azerbaijan, press office of Azeri Foreign Ministry reported. 
BAKU. February 2, 2010: Immediately after the 
BAKU. February 1, 2010: On February 4, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will visit Berlin to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, German embassy sources in Baku told Turan.
BAKU. January 27, 2010: Today Azeri president Ilham Aliyev has departed to Switzerland to take part at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
History of Azeri-Latvian Relations (1992-2009)
History of Azeri-Israeli Relations (1992-2009)
History of Relations Between 
History of Relations Between Azerbaijan and Russian Federation
Oil, Solidarity and Human Rights: Interview with Ana Bonde - Nov. 21, 2009
Thobjorn Jagland Speaks of Bloggers Case - Nov. 13, 2009
Glass is Half-Full: Interview With Azeri Ambassador to Czech Republic - Nov. 10, 2009
Price of Being an Oil Country. Interview With Alexandros Petersen - Sep 25, 2009
Interview With Latif Gandilov, the Azeri Ambassador In Kazakhstan - Sep 21, 2009
British MP Says Azeri Government Is Weak. Interview with British MP Mark Pritchard - Sep. 15, 2009
Interview With MHP Deputy Chairman On Armenian-Turkish Negotiations - September 7, 2009
Stephen J. Blank: Azerbaijan Not Preparing For War
RSF Representative Clothilde Le Coz Comments on the Arrest of Azeri Bloggers, July 21, 2009
David Kramer Speaks On Human Rights In Azerbaijan, July 20, 2009