Latest Articles about Azerbaijan
RESIDENTS ANGRY AS AZERBAIJAN HIKES GASOLINE PRICES
The new year has brought new economic surprises for the average Azerbaijani citizen. The Council on Tariffs decided on January 6 to double the price of diesel fuel (from 20 cents per liter to 40 cents), giving it the same price tag as regular gasoline.... MORE
IS ALIYEV GOVERNMENT MEDDLING IN AZERBAIJAN’S BUSINESS SECTOR?
The post-parliamentary election period in Azerbaijan was marked by an unusually harsh crackdown on a group of high-profile businessmen. Foremost, the assets of the country's largest private oil company, Azpetrol, were stripped from its owner, Rafik Aliyev, who had been arrested even before the November... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION CRUMBLES AFTER ELECTIONS
After their humiliating losses during the November 6 parliamentary elections, Azerbaijan's opposition has entered a predictable period of in-fighting and collapse. Many local analysts had predicted that with no tangible successes during elections for the past 12 years and with no apparent ability to organize... MORE
LONG-EXPECTED PERSONNEL CHANGES BEGIN IN AZERBAIJAN
Immediately following Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections, President Ilham Aliyev began cadre changes in the government. Some local experts believe the changes are long overdue. On December 14, he replaced Yusif Humbatov, chief of the territorial-administrative division at the President's office, with Zeynal Nagdaliyev, a... MORE
AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION DENOUNCES ITS LONG-TIME SUPPORTER ON ELECTION COMMISSION
As Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections fade into the distance, the more the Azerbaijani opposition is realizing that they missed their best opportunity to secure a role in national politics. Having inflated their expectations prior to the elections and convinced themselves that November 6 would... MORE
IS THE WEST LOSING AZERBAIJAN?
The November 26 post-election violence in Baku marked the end of Western influence in Azerbaijan. After being severely beaten and humiliated by police forces, the pro-Western Azerbaijani opposition has no one else to blame but the West. Its hopes for U.S. support to "overthrow the... MORE
KERIMLI BATTLE-CRY SPARKS MELEE IN BAKU
An emotional outburst by Popular Front of Azerbaijan Party (PFAP) leader Ali Kerimli, urging confrontation with the police, turned the opposition's lawful, peaceful November 26 post-election protest rally into a violent melee with the Baku police. Kerimli's rhetoric differed markedly from that of Musavat Party... MORE
INTERNATIONAL MONITORS SPLIT OVER AZERBAIJAN ELECTIONS
The November 6 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan drew significant international attention, partly driven by the desire to see if another democratic "color revolution" would take place in the post-Soviet region. Foreign journalists and international observers flooded the streets of Baku. Historically a geopolitical battleground, Azerbaijan... MORE
WILL AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION CHOOSE TURMOIL AS A STRATEGY?
Emboldened by certain international monitors' biased assessments, and ignoring the more objective evaluations of Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections, opposition leaders have launched street actions to press for the annulment of the results of the November 6 parliamentary vote and for holding new elections country-wide. The radical... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION SET TO CONTINUE PROTEST RALLIES, BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT
On Sunday November 13, the Azerbaijani opposition bloc Azadliq (Freedom), which unites the Musavat, Popular Front, and Democratic parties, joined with the Liberal Party and YES election bloc to hold a second protest rally in Baku's Galaba Square. The rally, initially planned for Saturday but... MORE