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BAKU. August 13, 2010: On August 12 in the evening and on August 13 early in the morning there was an exchange of gunfire between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in Khojavand, Terter and Fizuli regions. The Defense Ministry reported no casualties (Turan).

BAKU. July 27, 2010: Today two popular newspapers in Azerbaijan wrote that the wife of one Azerbaijani Minister had left the country with her lover, her fitness trainer. One of the newspapers reported that the Minister’s wife did not run away but was kidnapped. Those newspapers did not name the Minister fearing the heavy media liability laws of Azerbaijan. However, Azerireport learned from the sources in the local media of Azerbaijan that the person whose wife disappeared was Elmar Mammadyarov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Ehsan Zahidov, press officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, did not confirm the information about the kidnapping of the Minister’s wife. "This is lie and libel and people responsible for spreading such rumors are Azerbaijan’s enemies," one of the Ministry’s officials told Turan.

BAKU. May 28, 2010: Today Azdlig bloc held a rally in Novkhani village in the subrubs of Baku.  Novkhani is the birthplace to Mahammad Amin Rasulzadeh, the leader of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (1918-1920).  Below are the photos from the event:

Amin Rasulzadeh. Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) was the first republic in the Muslim World. ADR lived for two years – until April 28 1920 when the Russian Soviet Army invaded the country and abolished the republic establishing the communist rule.

Today, Musavat Party and the Alliance for the Sake of Democracy held a rally at the monument of Mahammad Amin Rasulzadeh in Novkhani. The same day, Azadlig bloc held a rally at the monument to Mahammad Amin Rasulzadeh in Novkhani in the suburbs of Baku. Click here for photo session Novkhani is the village where Rasulzadeh was born.

BAKU. May 27, 2010: May 28 is 92^nd the anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic under the leadership of Mahammad Amin Rasulzadeh.  Today, the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee’s rapporteur, Estonian deputy Andres Herkel visited the grave of the founder of Azerbaijan’s People Republic Mahammad Amin Rasulzadeh (1918-1920) in Ankara. Herkel is visiting Ankara together with Estonia’s parliamentary delegation. By visiting Rasulzadeh’s grave, Herkel who has often been accused of being biased by Azerbaijani deputies and officials, demonstrated his attitude to Azerbaijan’s history and values.  Herkel actually outperformed many of the Azerbaijani government officials who have continued paying homage to Heydar Aliyev’s questionable legacy but have never visited Mahammad Amin Rasulzadeh’s grave in Ankara or acknowledged Rasulzadeh’s contribution to the establishment of the Azerbaijani statehood in any way.

BAKU. May 21, 2010. Heavy rains in the north yesterday caused torrents in the river Atachay in Siyazan region, destroying part of the bank near Boyuk Hamya and Balaja Hamja villages. These villages are now in danger of being flooded. The torrents also demolished part of the gas pipeline through the river Atachay.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations is helping local residents to repair the infrastructure. The ministry also reported that last night part of the bank along lake Sarysu in Imishli region has also been destroyed, flooding the area around Alahmadli and Telishli villages.

BAKU. May 12, 2010: The flood continues destroying people’s homes in Azerbaijan.  The Azeri media reported that the flood has already affected the riverside villages of Saatli and Imishli.  Hundreds of people are evacuated from zone.  Kemaladdin Heydarov, the Azerbaijani minister for Emergency Situations, visited the regions.  The newspaper Azadlig reports that the local residents attacked Kemaladdin Heydarov in Polad-Togay village of Sabirabad after the Azeri official talked down to the people.  The minister had to get into his helicopter and run away from the angry population.  Earlier, Kemaladdin Heydarov had said there was no need for the help of international humanitarian organizations, that Azerbaijani government would be able to handle the problem on its own.

BAKU. May 11, 2010: Azerbajani president Ilham Aliyev visited the flooded areas and held an extraordinary session with the participation of the relevant ministries to discuss the rescue measures of the Azerbaijani government. Today, during the session of Milli Majlis (parliament of Azerbaijan), Panah Huseyn, member of the parliament from the opposition accused the Azerbaijani government of corruption. Panah Huseyn said the government spendings for the past three years allocated for ensuring safety measures at Kur river exceeded the total spendings for identical safety mesures for the same river during the last 30 years of the Soviet rule. Yet, when the disaster came, it appeared that the safety measures were not in place. "What is flooding is not Kur, but corruption and if it continues with this tempo it will get all of us," said Panah Huseyn.

BAKU. May 7, 2010:  Security Services of Azerbaijan robbed the Norwegian journalist Erling Borgen and his cameraman Dug Inge Dahl of their film materials about Azerbaijan when they were boarding a plane at Baku Airport.  The Norwegian journalists had arrived to Baku to make a film about the arrested Azeri journalist Eynulla Fatullayev.  On May 5, when the Norwegian journalists were about to board the plane at Baku Airport, they were stopped by security stuff of the airport. “After half hour of negotiations the security stuff insisted on taking my hand luggage in order to measure it. I did not have a choice, I had to check-in my hand luggage and it was sent to the luggage section,” says Borgen.  “It says everything about what type of regime is in power in Azerbaijan at the moment.  I take this robbery very seriously and I have already communicated my concerns to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and police.  I admire the courage of my journalist friends in Azerbaijan,” said Borgen.

WASHINGTON DC. March 26, 2010: Azerbaijani Americans for Democracy (AZAD) will hold a public forum on “Broken Pillar: Democracy in US-Azerbaijani Relations” on April 16. The event will be hosted at Johns Hopkins University from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM and will be open for public participation. The registration for the event can be accessed at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The forum will discuss the support for democracy as a U.S. foreign policy priority in relations with Azerbaijan. The keynote speakers of the event will include David Kramer, Senior Transatlantic Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States and former US Assistant Secretary of State, Clothilde Le Coz, Washington Director for Reporters Sans Frontieres, Dr. Ulian Gabar, Dean of International Education at the University of Richmond, Gorkhmaz Asgarov, Vice-Chairman of AZAD, and Elmar Chakhtakhtinski, Chairman of AZAD.