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Caviar Diplomacy: How Azerbaijan Silenced the Council of Europe
18:51 28/05/2012 » Politics
According to Golos Armenii, the European Stability Initiative
(http://www.esiweb.org) published on May 24 an extremely interesting
document titled `Caviar Diplomacy: How Azerbaijan Silenced the Council
of Europe.' This report looks really sensational, even on the
background of unprecedented squall of critical publications and
assessments in world press as well as those made by various
organizations regarding the holding of Eurovision Song Contest in
Baku.
Golos Armenii reports that The Financial Times expressed surprise at
the fact that Azerbaijan remains a member of the Council of Europe.
ESI report gives an exhaustive answer about its reasons. There is
evidence of it already at the beginning of the report, featuring
photos of members of PACE, who in various years were linked with
monitoring in Azerbaijan, divided into `apologists' and `critics.'
Authors trace Azerbaijan's 12-year membership in the Council of Europe
in the context of elections, showing the silencing process of European
MPs and giving shocking details of how corruption began to flourish
when Azerbaijan was admitted to the Council of Europe as well as
presenting the results of the spread of the practice of bribing PACE
members.
Many PACE members' first greeting, after 'Hello', is 'Where is the
caviar?'' Giving presents is part of traditional Azerbaijani culture,
however, gifts often imply paying a high price later. A book dedicated
to the traditions and culture of Azerbaijan says that generosity to
guests and friends implies return. Azerbaijani officials refer to it
as "caviar diplomacy": a policy that began in 2001, not long after
Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe. It gathered speed after Ilham
Aliyev became president of Azerbaijan in 2003. Once the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was completed in 2005 and the
Azerbaijani state coffers were awash in oil revenues, the "caviar
policy" shifted into top gear, the report said.
Also, the report dwells on the `worst' elections in the history of
PACE in Azerbaijan in 2010 and presents Baku's non-fulfilled
commitments towards the Council of Europe. Most importantly, the
report traces a fight between critics and apologists of Baku regime,
with Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mike Hancock mentioned among the apologists.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Baghdasarian
18:51 28/05/2012 » Politics
According to Golos Armenii, the European Stability Initiative
(http://www.esiweb.org) published on May 24 an extremely interesting
document titled `Caviar Diplomacy: How Azerbaijan Silenced the Council
of Europe.' This report looks really sensational, even on the
background of unprecedented squall of critical publications and
assessments in world press as well as those made by various
organizations regarding the holding of Eurovision Song Contest in
Baku.
Golos Armenii reports that The Financial Times expressed surprise at
the fact that Azerbaijan remains a member of the Council of Europe.
ESI report gives an exhaustive answer about its reasons. There is
evidence of it already at the beginning of the report, featuring
photos of members of PACE, who in various years were linked with
monitoring in Azerbaijan, divided into `apologists' and `critics.'
Authors trace Azerbaijan's 12-year membership in the Council of Europe
in the context of elections, showing the silencing process of European
MPs and giving shocking details of how corruption began to flourish
when Azerbaijan was admitted to the Council of Europe as well as
presenting the results of the spread of the practice of bribing PACE
members.
Many PACE members' first greeting, after 'Hello', is 'Where is the
caviar?'' Giving presents is part of traditional Azerbaijani culture,
however, gifts often imply paying a high price later. A book dedicated
to the traditions and culture of Azerbaijan says that generosity to
guests and friends implies return. Azerbaijani officials refer to it
as "caviar diplomacy": a policy that began in 2001, not long after
Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe. It gathered speed after Ilham
Aliyev became president of Azerbaijan in 2003. Once the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was completed in 2005 and the
Azerbaijani state coffers were awash in oil revenues, the "caviar
policy" shifted into top gear, the report said.
Also, the report dwells on the `worst' elections in the history of
PACE in Azerbaijan in 2010 and presents Baku's non-fulfilled
commitments towards the Council of Europe. Most importantly, the
report traces a fight between critics and apologists of Baku regime,
with Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mike Hancock mentioned among the apologists.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Baghdasarian