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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
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