Tweet
Azerbaijan continues the tour of ``stone diplomacy'': they shelled out
on monument in Montenegro this time
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/03/16/az-chernogoriya/
16:33 16/03/2013 » SOCIETY
Azerbaijan continues the tour of "stone diplomacy": a monument to
Azerbaijani poet Huseyn Javid will be installed in Montenegro, the
representative of the Research Center for Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Eliza-Ronald Hannon said at
article in the side of `Azeri Report'.
"The Azerbaijani government will pay for the reconstruction of the
Royal Park and for the area of the Street where the monument will be
installed. Government of Montenegro refuses to present the cost of the
project, but says that it is a multimillion project", says the
article.
The author notes that the Azerbaijani government has establish
monuments in many countries in recent years, including Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Serbia. However, these were monuments to former
President Heydar Aliyev. "It seems that this is the new policy of the
government: as soon as they receive a friendly attitude in any of
European countries they immediately install there Heydar Aliyev's
statue. His monuments are everywhere in Azerbaijan, and now the
tradition is exported. This is a continuation of the policy of
creation of a cult to the personality of the late president," says the
Azerbaijani blogger Ali Novruzov.
The article notes that one of such statues was in media's limelight
last month, when the Mexico government removed Aliyev's monument in
response to mass criticism. The protestors claimed that tributes of
honor paid to authoritarian leader are offensive for them. "It seems
that the fear of similar protests forced the Azerbaijani and
Montenegrin governments to refuse installment of another statue of
Aliyev in favor of a more suitable statue of a poet, Hussein,' says
Ronald-Hannon.
As the author notes both Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev, the
current president of Azerbaijan, are known for their dictatorial style
of government. Heydar Aliyev was a KGB general. He came to power in
the Soviet era, and got rid of his opponents in the pretext of
fighting against the corruption. "His son, Ilham, who inherited the
presidency, was compared with the head of the Mafia by the U.S.
diplomatic sources. During his ruling, Azerbaijan was criticized for
abusing the human rights, including the practice of arrests of
journalists and civil society activists,' the article says.
However, according to the author, the most blatant corruption is
characteristic to Aliyev regime. Recent collaborative research OCCRP
and "Radio LIberty" showed that the President of Azerbaijan and his
clan have amassed considerable wealth through the privatization of
state enterprises and secret ownership of stakes in major businesses
of the country. In addition, the ruling clan owns property in the
Czech Republic.
"Despite all this, the Azerbaijani authorities continue to promote
their image of a wealthy and generous neighbor. Formation of the
personality cult of Ilham in Azerbaijan, based on the model of his
father, worked, and now the process enters into the virtual space,'
the article says.
According to the professor of the Washington University, an expert on
post-Soviet countries Katie Pierce, the opposition dominated on the
online space for many years. "But two years ago, the youth wing of the
ruling party decided to become more active in social media," she said.
Their actions became apparent after OCCRP called Aliyev "corrupt
official of the year." Media organization and media, who wrote about
it, were buried with about 6,000 e-mails as a part of an organized
campaign.
The author also touched upon Azerbaijan's intention to establish a
resort center in Montenegro. The project costs 4 billion Euros.
According to the article, the fact that the State Oil Company of
Azerbaijan won the tender remains questionable, as it did not
correspond to the basic requirements of the tender. "It is easy to
manipulate by money from Azerbaijan,' Milka Tadic said, adding that
when the Montenegrin authorities need money, they often ask for
Aliyev's support.
Monument to Heydar Aliyev which was installed in one of the central
parks of Mexico City in August 2012 caused bewilderment among the
residents. Azerbaijan has spent about $ 5 million on the
reconstruction of two parks in Mexico City, after which it was allowed
to install a monument there. Several protests were held in the capital
of Mexico during which the participants claimed they did not want to
see the statue of a dictator, who had ruled thousands of miles away
from their country, next to the monuments of their heroes. As a
result, statue of the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev was
deinstalled. At the end of September 2012, in Canada, bust of Heydar
Aliyev, installed a year ago, was dismantled too, as the authorities
of the Niagara city considered it to be a statue of a dictatorship.
Source: Panorama.am
on monument in Montenegro this time
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/03/16/az-chernogoriya/
16:33 16/03/2013 » SOCIETY
Azerbaijan continues the tour of "stone diplomacy": a monument to
Azerbaijani poet Huseyn Javid will be installed in Montenegro, the
representative of the Research Center for Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Eliza-Ronald Hannon said at
article in the side of `Azeri Report'.
"The Azerbaijani government will pay for the reconstruction of the
Royal Park and for the area of the Street where the monument will be
installed. Government of Montenegro refuses to present the cost of the
project, but says that it is a multimillion project", says the
article.
The author notes that the Azerbaijani government has establish
monuments in many countries in recent years, including Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Serbia. However, these were monuments to former
President Heydar Aliyev. "It seems that this is the new policy of the
government: as soon as they receive a friendly attitude in any of
European countries they immediately install there Heydar Aliyev's
statue. His monuments are everywhere in Azerbaijan, and now the
tradition is exported. This is a continuation of the policy of
creation of a cult to the personality of the late president," says the
Azerbaijani blogger Ali Novruzov.
The article notes that one of such statues was in media's limelight
last month, when the Mexico government removed Aliyev's monument in
response to mass criticism. The protestors claimed that tributes of
honor paid to authoritarian leader are offensive for them. "It seems
that the fear of similar protests forced the Azerbaijani and
Montenegrin governments to refuse installment of another statue of
Aliyev in favor of a more suitable statue of a poet, Hussein,' says
Ronald-Hannon.
As the author notes both Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev, the
current president of Azerbaijan, are known for their dictatorial style
of government. Heydar Aliyev was a KGB general. He came to power in
the Soviet era, and got rid of his opponents in the pretext of
fighting against the corruption. "His son, Ilham, who inherited the
presidency, was compared with the head of the Mafia by the U.S.
diplomatic sources. During his ruling, Azerbaijan was criticized for
abusing the human rights, including the practice of arrests of
journalists and civil society activists,' the article says.
However, according to the author, the most blatant corruption is
characteristic to Aliyev regime. Recent collaborative research OCCRP
and "Radio LIberty" showed that the President of Azerbaijan and his
clan have amassed considerable wealth through the privatization of
state enterprises and secret ownership of stakes in major businesses
of the country. In addition, the ruling clan owns property in the
Czech Republic.
"Despite all this, the Azerbaijani authorities continue to promote
their image of a wealthy and generous neighbor. Formation of the
personality cult of Ilham in Azerbaijan, based on the model of his
father, worked, and now the process enters into the virtual space,'
the article says.
According to the professor of the Washington University, an expert on
post-Soviet countries Katie Pierce, the opposition dominated on the
online space for many years. "But two years ago, the youth wing of the
ruling party decided to become more active in social media," she said.
Their actions became apparent after OCCRP called Aliyev "corrupt
official of the year." Media organization and media, who wrote about
it, were buried with about 6,000 e-mails as a part of an organized
campaign.
The author also touched upon Azerbaijan's intention to establish a
resort center in Montenegro. The project costs 4 billion Euros.
According to the article, the fact that the State Oil Company of
Azerbaijan won the tender remains questionable, as it did not
correspond to the basic requirements of the tender. "It is easy to
manipulate by money from Azerbaijan,' Milka Tadic said, adding that
when the Montenegrin authorities need money, they often ask for
Aliyev's support.
Monument to Heydar Aliyev which was installed in one of the central
parks of Mexico City in August 2012 caused bewilderment among the
residents. Azerbaijan has spent about $ 5 million on the
reconstruction of two parks in Mexico City, after which it was allowed
to install a monument there. Several protests were held in the capital
of Mexico during which the participants claimed they did not want to
see the statue of a dictator, who had ruled thousands of miles away
from their country, next to the monuments of their heroes. As a
result, statue of the former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev was
deinstalled. At the end of September 2012, in Canada, bust of Heydar
Aliyev, installed a year ago, was dismantled too, as the authorities
of the Niagara city considered it to be a statue of a dictatorship.
Source: Panorama.am