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TUTORING POLICE FOR SONG CONTEST
by Michael Simoner
Der Standard
May 8 2012
Vienna, Austria
[translated from German]
Vienna/Baku:- The invitation came as a surprise, but not completely
so. Ever since the 2008 European Soccer Championship held in Austria
and Switzerland, the public relations expertise of the local police
has been regarded as an international yardstick of how to deal with
the media when large-scale events take place. This prompted Azerbaijan
recently to ask the Interior Ministry for know-how. The reason is
that the police of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is situated
between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus, is in charge of monitoring
the European Song Contest held from 22 to 26 May there but has only
a faint idea of Western-type public relations work.
So Vienna sent a delegation of four to Baku to tutor Oruj Zalov,
Deputy Interior Minister, and several highly decorated generals for
an entire four days. "Working with the media is unknown territory
there; many public service officials are stuck in old structures,"
Alexander Marakovits, head of department at the Interior Ministry's
press office, said to describe the problem.
Reporters Without Borders is more explicit. The organization keeps
a list ranking countries according to the freedom they grant their
media. Azerbaijan is number 162 out of a total of 179 states listed.
The press in this Near Eastern landlocked country is anything but free:
some 80 per cent of all papers are close to the government.
Independent journalists live dangerous lives: in late April, an
independent reporter, who had documented forced resettlements in and
around Baku, was beaten up so severely that he required hospital
treatment. The same applies to bloggers criticizing authoritarian
President Ilham Aliyev: they either have to fight back against
repression or even end up in jail.
"Baku Eager To Acquire Positive Image"
Yet nothing of that kind should be apparent at the Song Contest.
Azerbaijan wants to present itself as a modern, emerging country. It
will probably be able to do so, at least as far as its outward
appearance is concerned: "Baku is eager to acquire a positive image;
the whole city is in Song Contest fever," Marakovits said in an
interview with Der Standard. As he sees it, the police are preparing
seriously to deal with a wave of Western media representatives,
who will naturally also ask critical questions about the state of
affairs in the country.
Marakovits as well as Manfred Reinthaler and Hans Golob of the press
office of the Vienna Police and Daniela Tunst of the Vienna Provincial
Police Command spoke a lot about communication in critical situations
while in Baku. "If the information policy develops at the same pace
as new buildings do in Baku, the security authorities in Azerbaijan
are on the right course," Marakovits said.
Council of Europe Monitoring
There is a lot at stake for Azerbaijan. After all, the Song Contest
is expected to pump-prime tourism. However, the country, which won
independence in 1991 and is about the size of Austria, is still
gripped by an armed conflict with Armenia in the Nagorny Karabakh
region. The former Soviet republic joined the Council of Europe 11
years ago and is subject to its monitoring. It was the Council of
Europe that appointed German Bundestag deputy Christoph Straesser as
special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Until now,
however, the Social Democratic Party politician has not been allowed
to travel to Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
by Michael Simoner
Der Standard
May 8 2012
Vienna, Austria
[translated from German]
Vienna/Baku:- The invitation came as a surprise, but not completely
so. Ever since the 2008 European Soccer Championship held in Austria
and Switzerland, the public relations expertise of the local police
has been regarded as an international yardstick of how to deal with
the media when large-scale events take place. This prompted Azerbaijan
recently to ask the Interior Ministry for know-how. The reason is
that the police of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is situated
between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus, is in charge of monitoring
the European Song Contest held from 22 to 26 May there but has only
a faint idea of Western-type public relations work.
So Vienna sent a delegation of four to Baku to tutor Oruj Zalov,
Deputy Interior Minister, and several highly decorated generals for
an entire four days. "Working with the media is unknown territory
there; many public service officials are stuck in old structures,"
Alexander Marakovits, head of department at the Interior Ministry's
press office, said to describe the problem.
Reporters Without Borders is more explicit. The organization keeps
a list ranking countries according to the freedom they grant their
media. Azerbaijan is number 162 out of a total of 179 states listed.
The press in this Near Eastern landlocked country is anything but free:
some 80 per cent of all papers are close to the government.
Independent journalists live dangerous lives: in late April, an
independent reporter, who had documented forced resettlements in and
around Baku, was beaten up so severely that he required hospital
treatment. The same applies to bloggers criticizing authoritarian
President Ilham Aliyev: they either have to fight back against
repression or even end up in jail.
"Baku Eager To Acquire Positive Image"
Yet nothing of that kind should be apparent at the Song Contest.
Azerbaijan wants to present itself as a modern, emerging country. It
will probably be able to do so, at least as far as its outward
appearance is concerned: "Baku is eager to acquire a positive image;
the whole city is in Song Contest fever," Marakovits said in an
interview with Der Standard. As he sees it, the police are preparing
seriously to deal with a wave of Western media representatives,
who will naturally also ask critical questions about the state of
affairs in the country.
Marakovits as well as Manfred Reinthaler and Hans Golob of the press
office of the Vienna Police and Daniela Tunst of the Vienna Provincial
Police Command spoke a lot about communication in critical situations
while in Baku. "If the information policy develops at the same pace
as new buildings do in Baku, the security authorities in Azerbaijan
are on the right course," Marakovits said.
Council of Europe Monitoring
There is a lot at stake for Azerbaijan. After all, the Song Contest
is expected to pump-prime tourism. However, the country, which won
independence in 1991 and is about the size of Austria, is still
gripped by an armed conflict with Armenia in the Nagorny Karabakh
region. The former Soviet republic joined the Council of Europe 11
years ago and is subject to its monitoring. It was the Council of
Europe that appointed German Bundestag deputy Christoph Straesser as
special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Until now,
however, the Social Democratic Party politician has not been allowed
to travel to Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress