Latest Articles about Azerbaijan
LOW TURNOUT IN AZERBAIJAN SUGGESTS DISAPPOINTMENT WITH ELECTORAL PROCESS
On November 6 Azerbaijanis went to the polls to elect 125 new members of the National Parliament. According to the final numbers from the Central Election Commission (CEC), turnout was close to 47% of all registered voters, a number generally confirmed by local and international... MORE
AZERBAIJANI-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS DETERIORATE AFTER STOLEN ELECTIONS
Ukraine has followed the lead of the OSCE in not recognizing the official results of Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections. A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "We support the earlier conclusions of the OSCE observer mission on this question and are awaiting the final verdict... MORE
AZERBAIJAN RESPONSIVE TO ELECTION OBSERVERS’ CRITIQUE DESPITE EXAGGERATIONS
Quite predictably (from past experience, and in a novice parliamentary system) many local irregularities were recorded in Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections. Equally predictably from all opinion surveys, the irregularities could not affect the clear-cut overall victory of President Ilham Aliyev's Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party.... MORE
GULIYEV’S SECOND ATTEMPT TO RETURN TO AZERBAIJAN FAILS
After his first unsuccessful attempt to return to Azerbaijan on October 17, Rasul Guliyev, chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party and former speaker of parliament, announced that he would return between October 31 and November 3 (see EDM, October 19). Such a vague timeline put... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S MODERATE OPPOSITION ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS
Azerbaijan's moderate opposition has been relegated to undeserved obscurity in terms of international media coverage and Western policy assessments of the situation in Azerbaijan. The attention has focused on the radicals because of their confrontational tactics and "revolutionary" phraseology. Meanwhile, the moderate opposition's Yeni Siyasat... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S RADICAL OPPOSITION ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS
The radical opposition bloc Azadliq (Freedom) is capturing international headlines through high decibel power and the decade-old political investment into a few of the bloc's leaders by some Western human-rights groups. In the perception of most Azerbaijani voters, however, Azadliq leaders are indelibly associated with... MORE
ROSE, ORANGE REVOLUTIONS’ PROTAGONISTS AGAINST ‘COLOR REVOLUTION’ IN AZERBAIJAN
Judging by the experience of past elections in Azerbaijan -- particularly the 2003 presidential vote -- the crucial date in the upcoming parliamentary elections will not be the November 6 balloting day, but the day after. All opinion surveys and other indicators presage a clear-cut... MORE
ALIYEV ISSUES NEW DECREES TO IMPROVE ELECTION TRANSPARENCY
A combination of international pressure and domestic tension has forced the Azerbaijani authorities to make several significant concessions regarding the November 6 parliamentary elections. Speaking at the October 25 governmental session, President Ilham Aliyev outlined new measures to ensure a transparent and democratic electoral process.... MORE
CONSPIRATORS OR SCAPEGOATS? AZERBAIJAN STILL BUZZING OVER CABINET SHAKEUP
Throughout the past week, Azerbaijan's citizens and outside observers have been discussing President Ilham Aliyev's surprising cabinet reshuffle. On October 19 President Aliyev suddenly dismissed several ministers and high-ranking officials, some of whom were quickly arrested by the country's law enforcement agencies. This risky, but... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN: FREER, FAIRER, AWAITING FAIR JUDGMENT
Images of baton-wielding police breaking up unlawful rallies by the radical opposition in a central square of Baku are partly responsible for diverting international attention from Azerbaijan's genuine advances toward holding freer and fairer elections. The other distracting factors include local authorities' uneasy learning process... MORE