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Azerbaijani security official detained

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f5640833e73753_5640833e7378b.thumbThe Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s General’s Office has detained a high-ranking security official, Trend.az reports.
Law enforcement sources have told the agency that complaints against Colonel Mirasis Askerov, the head of General Counter-Intelligence Department at the Ministry of National Security, led to the precautionary measure.

An inquest is now under way.

October 18Azerbaijan’s Minister of National Security Eldar Mahmudov was detained on charges of abuse of power.

Seven other security officials were later held as part of the same proceeding.

ICRC receives official notification on Armenian citizen crossing border with Azerbaijan

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CapturedYEREVAN. – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has received an official notification from the parties on the fact of an Armenian citizen crossing the border with Azerbaijan. The communications officer of the ICRC Yerevan Office, Zara Amatuni, told the aforementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to her, pursuant to their mandate, Baku ICRC delegation representatives will conduct a dialogue with the Azerbaijani leadership to immediately visit the citizen.

The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan informed earlier that Armenia’s Tavush Province resident, Lusine Abovyan (born in 1942), was captured on Sunday.

Azerbaijan shooting makes it impossible to remove damaged Russia truck from Armenia road

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Azery shootingA Russian truck was damaged Thursday in the Tavush Province of Armenia, and due to the shots fired by Azerbaijan.

The incident took place on the Baghanis-Voskepar motorway.

The tires of the vehicle were punctured and its engine was damaged in the shooting.

The truck cannot be removed from the main road for two days now, Baghanis village mayor Narek Sahakyan on Saturday told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He noted that they had attempted to remove the vehicle from the road on Friday evening, but they could not due to the Azerbaijani shooting.

In Sahakyan’s words, now the villagers prefer not to travel along the Baghanis-Voskepar motorway, since it is not safe.

Azerbaijani delegation to PACE like worm-eaten apple – Shavarsh Kocharyan

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f563b715e71d0d_563b715e71d44.thumbArmenian Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan, in response to MP Tevan Poghosyan’s question as to whether funds have been allocated to oppose the two anti-Armenian reports at the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said that rapporteur Robert Walter’s conduct is not a new thing.

In 2013, he was head of the monitoring group at elections in Azerbaijan and called the elections excellent, whereas a different statement on the elections was made.

“The Azerbaijani delegation is like a worm-eaten apple fallen there and infecting other apples. And this PACE’s gravest problem,” Mr Kocharyan said.

Armenian Assembly requests Department of Justice investigation of Turkish & Azerbaijani groups

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Armenian-Assembly-of-America-620x300(armradio.am report) Today, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) called on the Department of Justice to investigate potentially illegal activities of U.S. groups with ties to foreign entities in Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and the House Committee on Ethics concluded that 9 members of Congress and more than two dozen staff members accepted a trip that was improperly paid for by foreign corporations in Azerbaijan and Turkey. In addition to attending a convention in Azerbaijan, several Members of Congress and their staff also traveled to Turkey free of cost. The OCE’s review found that the congressional travel to Azerbaijan and Turkey was “not funded exclusively by the entities disclosed on travel forms submitted to the Committee on Ethics.”

A USA TODAY investigation discovered that Gülen groups, Turkish organizations who follow the leadership of Fethullah Gülen, “secretly funded as many as 200 trips to Turkey for members of Congress and staff since 2008, repeatedly violating House rules and possibly federal law.” Over the course of its review, the OCE obtained evidence that a Turkish organization, named the Bosphorus Atlantic Cultural Association of Friendship and Cooperation (BAKIAD), funded and coordinated the congressional travel within Turkey dating back several years.  Four of the Gülen groups sponsoring the 2013 conference in Azerbaijan also “used BAKIAD to arrange and finance all in-country expenses for congressional travel in Turkey,” OCE found. “Importantly, however, BAKIAD’s role does not appear to have been disclosed to the Committee on Ethics in 2013 or in other years.” Congressional disclosures show the Gülen-backed trips totaled more than $800,000 in free travel for lawmakers and staff. Both the Turkish and Azerbaijani Congressional Caucuses have significantly increased their membership over the last several years.

According to the USA TODAY, “A dozen different Gülen groups have sponsored congressional travel since 2008 and have filed forms with the House certifying that they were paying for the trips. The House Ethics Committee approved all the trips in advance based on the forms the Gülen groups submitted. But a USA TODAY investigation found many of those disclosures were apparently false. Some of the Gülenist groups claimed to be certified nonprofits, but they do not appear in state or IRS databases of approved charities. Groups that did register with the IRS filed tax forms indicating that they did not pay for congressional travel. And five of the groups admitted to congressional investigators earlier this year that a Gülenist group in Turkey was secretly covering the costs of travel inside Turkey for lawmakers and staff.”

The OCE investigators received documentation that the lawmakers accepted donations by two Texas-based nonprofit corporations, the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians (TCAE) and the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ). They found that TCAE and AFAZ concealed the true source of the funding for travel and other expenses for the U.S. officials. Instead, much of the cost of travel and funding for the convention was paid for by undisclosed entities including the Republic of Azerbaijan through its national oil company, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). Evidence revealed that SOCAR founded AFAZ in the month prior to the Convention, transferring $750,000 to an AFAZ bank account.

“The revelations by the USA TODAY investigation, in addition to the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation, are remarkable,” the Assembly said in its letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “We respectfully request a full and thorough investigation by the Department of Justice into these groups and the full application of the law. The reported activities constitute plainly illegal behavior and strikes at the core of our Constitutional government through blatant foreign influence peddling.”

Karabakh: Defense Army totally capable of confronting Azeri troops: Commander

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199929Azeri escalation on the line of contact is the former’s wish to test the readiness of its armed forces in the event of renewal of hostilities, the Karabakh Defense Army Commander said.

“From the political perspective, Baku is trying to show its intolerance to the status quo in the region to the global community, thus pressuring the international mediators engaged in the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Lieutenant-General Levon Mnatsakanyan told Noyan Tapan news agency.

According to the Commander, Baku also seeks to satisfy the domestic audiences’ interest as well as exert psychological influence on the Armenian side.

Commenting on Azerbaijani claims of being “superbly” armed, Mnatsakanyan said Baku is often prone to exaggeration.

“The Armenian side, on the contrary, focuses not just on the quantitative indicators, but the quality specifications in particular,” the official noted.

According to him, the Defense Army has the technical and psychological capabilities to confidently confront the Azerbaijani army.

Azerbaijani dictator Aliyev’s party seen easily winning election with (0) opposition party

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n_90596_1BAKU – Reuters

President Ilham Aliyev’s ruling party is poised to sweep the board in a parliamentary election in Azerbaijan on Nov. 1, a vote the mainstream opposition and international monitors are shunning.

Aliyev has consolidated his power since succeeding his father and long-serving leader Heydar in 2003, presiding over a period when officials say revenues from rising oil and gas exports have delivered better living standards.

Rights groups accuse the government of curbing freedoms and of silencing dissent, while the opposition complains of harassment, a lack of access to air time, and draconian restrictions on campaigning.

The government denies wrongdoing, and Western governments, who are courting Azerbaijan as an alternative source of oil and gas to Russia, balance their criticism over human rights with strategic considerations.

Azerbaijan is host to oil majors including BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron.

“We got 71 (out of 125) seats at the previous election and we have every chance to repeat that victory this time,” Ali Akhmedov, the executive secretary of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) Party, said.

The mainstream opposition in Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim country of about 9 million people, sandwiched between Iran, Russia and Turkey, is boycotting the poll.

“The pre-election period was marred by massive violations. That’s why we decided not to participate,” opposition Musavat Party leader, Arif Gajily, told Reuters.

Several rights activists and journalists have been jailed this year. They include Leyla Yunus, the head of the Baku-based Institute for Peace and Democracy, and Khadija Ismayilova, a prominent journalist from the U.S. government-funded radio station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, known for exposing corruption among top government officials.

Human Rights Watch said this week that Azeri authorities had  convicted or imprisoned at least 35 journalists and rights and political activists in 2014 and that “the crackdown continued at a dizzying pace.”

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it would not monitor the election because restrictions imposed on it by the authorities made credible poll monitoring impossible.

“I urge Azerbaijan’s leaders to engage with their citizens and with the international community in an open and honest dialogue aimed at bringing human rights and rule of law back to the country,” the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s democracy and human rights chairperson, Isabel Santos, said earlier this week.

Some foreign journalists, including reporters from Reuters, were not issued with accreditation to cover the election. The foreign ministry cited technical difficulties.

November/01/2015

Turkey Vows Its Support for the ‘Liberation’ of ‘Azerbaijani Territories’

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turk_azerb_militaryBAKU (AZERNEWS)—Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, Army General Hulusi Akar, has said that Turkey will do its utmost for the “liberation” of “occupied Azerbaijani territories,” local media reported on October 30.

Akar emphasized that Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation and two states.

“Everything will be good. Be sure of that. Turkey will do its utmost,” Akar said, commenting on a question on joint steps by Turkey and Azerbaijan for the liberation of Azerbaijani territory from Armenian “occupation.”

Ankara has previously stated its demand for Armenia to immediately and unconditionally leave the region in view of restoring Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders. For that reason, the two countries regularly hold joint military exercises and strengthen their armed forces.

Commenting on Akar’s remarks, Azerbaijan said that the military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey is aimed at liberating Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.

The Azerbaijani defense ministry told Trend News that such support comes from strong friendship and fraternal relations, as well as the traditional spirit of solidarity between the two countries that rely on their shared historical and moral values.

“Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev’s famous slogan, ‘One nation, two states,’ signifies a national conception characterizing Azerbaijan-Turkey relations, and it’s also indicative of the high-level bonds between the two countries in the political, economic, humanitarian, and military areas,” the ministry said.

The defense ministry noted that under the bilateral action plan that is signed annually between the military authorities of Azerbaijan and Turkey with the support of Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, live fire drills carried out by the ground forces, air forces, and other types of troops, mutual visits of high-ranking military representatives as well as further expansion of cooperation in the military, military education and military technical areas, are taking places systematically.

It went on to add that high-level dialogue between the militaries of Azerbaijan and Turkey is held in order to coordinate strategic military opportunities.

“The soldiers and armies of both countries have supported each other in hard times and established justice after destroying the enemy by force of arms. As our ancestors gained victory over the enemy, our armed forces decently continue this honorable duty. The expansion of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey is aimed at liberating Azerbaijan’s occupied territories and ensuring stability and peace in the region,” the ministry underlined.

Military cooperation between the two states dates back to 1992 when they signed an agreement on military education. Since then, the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments have been closely cooperating in both defense and security.

In December 2010, both countries signed a range of treaties provisioning for military assistance should either of them be attacked by a third party. Based on numerous agreements on joint military exercises as part of bilateral efforts towards military cooperation, the Azerbaijani and Turkish armed forces hold regular drills, featuring various tactical and combat tasks.

The joint tactical exercises entitled “TurAz Qartali-2015″ of the Azerbaijani and Turkish Armies were held in Azerbaijan in September. The exercises, which were conducted as part of an annual joint military plan, lasted until September 18.

US senator Seeks to press Azerbaijan on political prisoners

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dick_durbin.thumbA senior US senator has said that he intends to press Azerbaijani officials to release government critics imprisoned amid what rights groups call an escalating campaign to silence dissent in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the November 2 Democrat in the Senate, told RFE/RL on October 29 that the US ambassador in Baku, Robert Cekuta, has “encouraged” him to open a “dialogue with the Azerbaijani government” about the Caucasus nation’s human rights record.

Cekuta “doesn’t believe the West should give up,” Durbin said. “He believes that there are still influences within the country and within the government that want to move in the right direction.”

“They’ve really got to come to grips with some of the excesses when it comes to human rights policy and be a more open society, more tolerant society,” Durbin said. “I think that really is in the best interest of the people who live there.”

Durbin said he had spoken with Cekuta earlier in the day and that he hopes to meet next week with Elin
Suleymanov, the Azerbaijani ambassador in Washington.

“I want to reinforce that if I can in my communications with their ambassador, and perhaps later try to find other ways to reach out and convince them the release of these prisoners would be in the best interest of the country,” Durbin said.

Numerous activists, journalists, and government critics – including investigative journalist and RFE/RL contributor Khadija Ismayilova – are currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan on charges that Western officials and international rights groups have called politically motivated.
Baku has repeatedly rejected the accusations, insisting that the cases in question are strictly criminal in nature.

Durbin met this week in Washington with Dinara Yunus, the daughter of Azerbaijani rights activists Leyla and Arif Yunus, who are currently serving prison terms on charges widely denounced as a travesty of justice.
Dinara Yunus told a briefing on Capitol Hill on October 28 that she fears her parents, both of whom suffer from health problems, will “die behind bars.”

“They are both facing some very serious medical challenges, and we’re very worried about it,” Durbin said of the Yunuses, adding that he discussed the couple’s case with Cekuta.

Durbin has been a vocal critic of Azerbaijan’s rights human rights record.

In August, he was one of three U.S. senators who sent a letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev calling for the release of “peaceful civil society activists” imprisoned in cases with “political overtones.”

OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairmen were “forced to take cover” crossing the Line of Contact as Azerbaijan opened gunfire

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OSCE minsk groupDuring our Line of Contact crossing, repeated gunfire forced OSCE monitors to take cover. This is unacceptable», – wrote OSCE Minsk Group American co-Chairman James Warlick on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, publishing photo evidence with bulletproof jackets.

Earlier the U.S. co-Chairman had published another photo where, together with two other co-Chairmen Igor Popov of Russia and Pierre Andrieu of France, as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE CiO Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk were en route to crossing the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan.