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AZERBAIJAN BASKS IN GLITZ, FEARS EXPOSURE
ARMENPRESS
23 May, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS: On a recent evening on Baku's seaside
promenade, throbbing Euro-dance music blared out from an open-air
concert as families strolled by. Cafes serving fragrant skewered meat
served throngs of locals and foreigners, reports Armenpress citing
Fox News. As Islam flourishes, however, rights activists also say that
blatant trampling of democratic freedoms is being ignored by Western
powers eager to exploit Azerbaijani oil wealth. Advocacy groups are
using the global attention generated by Eurovision to publicize rights
issues they say have been overlooked for years.
"Both local rights activists and international human rights groups view
this as an opportunity to highlight to the world just what is going on
in Azerbaijan, which doesn't normally receive a lot of press coverage,"
said Max Tucker, Azerbaijan campaigner for Amnesty International.
For the West, Azerbaijan has long been mainly about oil.
Tensions with Iran have deepened in recent months over Azerbaijani
suspicions that Tehran supports radical religious extremists in
its midst.
Relations with Russia are cordial but undermined by what Baku
perceives as Moscow's support for neighboring Armenia, with which
Azerbaijan fought and lost a bitter six-year conflict over the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh territory from 1988.
Journalists who have bucked the trend by reporting on alleged
corruption in government have often faced repercussions.
In a prominent recent case, investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova
received an envelope stuffed with intimate photographs that she
was made to understand would be made public if she didn't stop her
aggressive reporting. Instead of backing down, Ismayilova went public
with the blackmail threat. Covertly filmed footage of her at home
was posted online days later.
Undeterred, Ismayilova has since reported for Radio Free Europe about
how Aliyev's family has allegedly profited from the construction of the
newly built concert hall in which the Eurovision contest is to be held.
From: A. Papazian
ARMENPRESS
23 May, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS: On a recent evening on Baku's seaside
promenade, throbbing Euro-dance music blared out from an open-air
concert as families strolled by. Cafes serving fragrant skewered meat
served throngs of locals and foreigners, reports Armenpress citing
Fox News. As Islam flourishes, however, rights activists also say that
blatant trampling of democratic freedoms is being ignored by Western
powers eager to exploit Azerbaijani oil wealth. Advocacy groups are
using the global attention generated by Eurovision to publicize rights
issues they say have been overlooked for years.
"Both local rights activists and international human rights groups view
this as an opportunity to highlight to the world just what is going on
in Azerbaijan, which doesn't normally receive a lot of press coverage,"
said Max Tucker, Azerbaijan campaigner for Amnesty International.
For the West, Azerbaijan has long been mainly about oil.
Tensions with Iran have deepened in recent months over Azerbaijani
suspicions that Tehran supports radical religious extremists in
its midst.
Relations with Russia are cordial but undermined by what Baku
perceives as Moscow's support for neighboring Armenia, with which
Azerbaijan fought and lost a bitter six-year conflict over the disputed
Nagorno-Karabakh territory from 1988.
Journalists who have bucked the trend by reporting on alleged
corruption in government have often faced repercussions.
In a prominent recent case, investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova
received an envelope stuffed with intimate photographs that she
was made to understand would be made public if she didn't stop her
aggressive reporting. Instead of backing down, Ismayilova went public
with the blackmail threat. Covertly filmed footage of her at home
was posted online days later.
Undeterred, Ismayilova has since reported for Radio Free Europe about
how Aliyev's family has allegedly profited from the construction of the
newly built concert hall in which the Eurovision contest is to be held.
From: A. Papazian