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  • Azerbaijanis Protest Against Army Deaths

    AZERBAIJANIS PROTEST AGAINST ARMY DEATHS

    Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
    IWPR Caucasus Reporting #680
    March 15 2013

    Officials dismiss public expressions of anger as plot by agents
    provocateurs.

    By Seymur Kazimov, Shahin Rzayev - Caucasus

    Police in Azerbaijan used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse
    people protesting against conscript deaths in the army.

    Estimates of numbers at the March 10 demonstration vary, with some
    media outlets putting the figure at 3,000.

    The water cannons struck journalists and bystanders as well as
    protesters. Two IWPR correspondents were drenched, despite wearing
    jackets identifying them as press.

    Although some media outlets reported that rubber bullets were fired,
    the IWPR journalists who were present were unable to confirm that.

    They generally found that police behaved professionally and without
    the kind of violence seen at previous rallies in Baku.

    The protesters chanted, "Say no to soldiers' deaths", "The army is
    not a morgue", and "The commander in chief must answer for this".

    According to Doktrina, a defence affairs research centre, of the 17
    soldiers who have died this year, only three were killed by Armenian
    forces along the front lines, where a tenuous ceasefire has been
    in place since the Nagorny Karabakh ended in 1994. Last year, the
    proportion was similar, with 20 combat deaths out of a total of 97
    fatalities in the military. (IWPR looked at this issue in January:
    Azeri Anger Roused by Soldier's Death.)

    Police detained around 100 people at the demonstration, although
    most were freed by the end of the day. Around 20 were given minor
    sentences. Three will spend a week in jail, while the others were
    given hefty fines of between 400 and 600 manats, or 510-765 US dollars.

    Three days before the protest, police arrested a three activists from
    an opposition youth group called NIDA and accused them of preparing
    an insurrection.

    Officers said they found petrol bombs and marijuana when searching
    the houses of Bakhtiyar Quliyev, Mahammad Azizov and Shahin Novruzlu.

    Relatives of the three men insisted the evidence had been planted.

    On March 9, the day before the protest, the three men were shown
    on state television admitting their guilt and saying they had been
    plotting revolution. The leaders of NIDA said the three could have
    been tortured into confessing, and denied any violent plans against
    the state.

    On March 14, a fourth NIDA activist, Rashad Hasanov, was arrested.

    Opposition leaders said the use of televised confessions coupled with
    robust police action against protests were signs the government was
    taking a harsher line in anticipation of a presidential elections
    this autumn.

    "This performance with the arrested activists and the 'revolution'
    charges, as well as the use of water cannons, demonstrate that the
    government fears increased activity from civil society, Ali Kerimli,
    leader of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, said, adding, "I am proud
    of our young people."

    Government representatives portrayed the March 10 demonstration as
    the work of agents provocateurs.

    "A few provocateurs are trying to exploit the tragedy of soldiers'
    deaths for their own personal ends," Siyavush Novruzov, a leading
    member of the governing Yeni Azerbaijan party who was present at
    the protest as an observer, said. "They are trying to raise their
    political profile ahead of the election."

    Eldar Sabiroglu, spokesman for Azerbaijan's defence ministry, offered
    a similar explanation.

    "Certain groups have an interest in sowing distrust between the army
    and society. They are trying to exploit the tears of the mothers of
    the dead soldiers for their own foul ends," he said.

    Uzeri Jafarov, a retired lieutenant-colonel who heads an association
    called Military Journalists, said the government was to blame for
    failing to introduce the military reforms that were needed to end
    the wave of deaths.

    "Even if we appointed the most famous general in the world as defence
    minister, the problem would not be solved until the laws are changed,"
    he said.

    Jafarov said the age of conscription should be raised from 18 to
    20, and the army should move to being a professional rather than
    conscripted force.

    Elkhan Shahinoglu, head of the Atlas think tank, said the government
    would be unwise to dismiss the protest as an opposition publicity
    stunt.

    "The voices of the dissatisfied must be heard, otherwise these
    protests could turn into something more radical. There has to be
    civilian control over what's happening in the army. Every soldier's
    death must be fully investigated and the results made available to
    society," he said.

    Natiq Jafarli, executive secretary of the opposition REAL movement,
    doubted the government would do anything to improve life for
    conscripts.

    "The government has had both the opportunity and the preconditions
    for pursuing army reforms, it did not make use of them," Jafarli said.

    "Presumably they think that any concessions in an election year will
    look like weakness. We need to hold more protests."

    Seymur Kazimov is a freelance journalist in Azerbaijan. Shahin Rzayev
    is IWPR's Azerbaijan Country Director.

    http://iwpr.net/report-news/azerbaijanis-protest-against-army-deaths

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