Latest Articles about Azerbaijan
AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION SCORES ITS FIRST VICTORY IN 19 MONTHS
On June 4, the Azerbaijani opposition achieved its greatest victory in the past 19 months. The ban on organizing and holding public rallies in the country was finally broken when Baku Mayor Hajibala Abutalibov agreed to authorize a request for street demonstration organized by a... MORE
TURKEY, GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN LAUNCH NEW STRATEGIC RAILWAY PROJECT
While the May 25 opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline garnered considerable media interest, a second initiative has received less attention. On the sidelines of the BTC ceremony, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Turkey's President Akhmed Nedget Sezer... MORE
BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINE INAUGURATED
The first stage of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline was officially inaugurated on May 25 at the Sangachal shore terminal, south of Baku. The presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as BP President Lord John Browne, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman,... MORE
BAKU AND ASTANA PLAY IT SAFE IN CASPIAN OIL BATTLE
Until Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a landmark trip to Baku on May 25, marking Kazakhstan's decisive move towards joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project, bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan had shown few signs of progress. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev visited Kazakhstan in March 2004,... MORE
WILL BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE CARRY REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS ALONG WITH CRUDE?
During the opening ceremony on May 25, oil started flowing into the U.S.-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which will bring Caspian hydrocarbons to Western markets and break Russia's monopoly on energy exports from the Caucasus and Central Asia. But some Russian political analysts contend that the... MORE
AZERBAIJAN JOINS ARMENIA AS NEW MEMBER OF DISCREDITED UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
On April 29, Azerbaijan became a member of the UN Human Rights Commission. Azerbaijan's representative to the United Nations, Yashar Aliev, described the vote as an "important step." The election was held following a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council, to which the... MORE
SLOW CADRE REFORM HINDERS ALIEV’S DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
On April 26, while visiting Shemakha, a town 100 kilometers away from Baku, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev was confronted by numerous complaints about rising prices in the country as well as the lack of employment opportunities. Yet, the most striking comment came from a senior... MORE
COUNCIL OF EUROPE ADVISES BAKU AHEAD OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
The past two weeks have marked new, intensified efforts by the international community to ensure that Azerbaijan conducts free and fair parliamentary elections, which are set for November of this year. Outsiders are putting more pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities to democratize and implement reforms.... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S ALIEV SEEKS POLISH HELP FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
After visits to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev reversed course and paid a visit to a European country -- Poland -- on March 30. The trip refuted speculations that Azerbaijan was gradually shifting its foreign policy course towards the East. The... MORE
OPPOSITION SCORES TWO GAINS IN AZERBAIJAN
On March 21, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev signed an amnesty decree, releasing 115 prisoners. The decreed, timed to coincide with the Novruz spring holiday, freed many individuals that the Council of Europe, local, and international human rights organizations considered to be "political prisoners" (ANS TV,... MORE