"Orwellian" Azerbaijan has certainly passed beyond the pale of norms and principles of international law and fundamental human rights.
“War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.” Those familiar with George Orwell’s book 1984 recognize these slogans or, better say, anti-slogans. The fiction describes a suppressed society under despotic system that rules through state propaganda, falsification of history and reality, as well as keeps its society under permanent state of war and in atmosphere of fear.
Publishing his book in 1949, Orwell most probably had drawn inspiration from totalitarian systems like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, many concepts described in his fictional state of “Oceania” have reached our days. Authoritarianism based on despotic power, re-writing of history and distortion of reality, violation of basic human rights, intolerance and xenophobia do exist today in non-fictional states.
The Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the most vivid examples of how countries follow the concepts of “Oceania”. The oil-rich Azerbaijan with its quasi-monarch ruler Ilham Aliyev is known as one of the most corrupted states and regimes.[1] Its human rights records are as bad. Consistently assessed by global human rights organizations as a “non-free” state,[2] Azerbaijan is “characterized by intolerance for dissent and disregard for civil liberties and political rights”.[3]
In best traditions of “Oceania”, Azerbaijan’s official rhetoric attempts to misrepresent the reality. “All fundamental freedoms are provided in Azerbaijan – freedom of assembly, association, freedom of expression, media freedom”, says the Azeri president.[4] However, the same “freedom-provider” has recently cracked down on local and American NGOs, including IREX and NED, forcing them to cease operating in Azerbaijan,[5] and detained and jailed human rights activists and reporters.[6] Here, Aliyev’s regime was especially tough on those involved in Track II peaceful diplomacy efforts on Nagorno Karabakh conflict,[7] and towards the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)—the bureau was raided just days after U.S. State Secretary John Kerry personally expressed his concern over continuing persecutions in Azerbaijan.[8] Indeed, “freedom is slavery” is very applicable.
Another slogan of the Orwellian state, “war is peace”, perfectly corresponds with Azerbaijan’s behavior regarding the Karabakh conflict. Inspired by the flow of easy oil money, Aliyev’s regime keeps itself and the neighborhood under a permanent threat of war in order to cover his own shortcomings and reinforce his grip on power. Continued bellicose statements[9] and permanent tension along the frontline via subversions and other violations of the 1994 ceasefire agreement, co-signed by Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia, are called to facilitate Aliyev’s stance. The same logic applies to Azerbaijan’s rejection to pulling out snipers from the Line of Contact and implementing other de-escalation measures repeatedly proposed by international community.[10].
Aliyev’s regime spares no efforts to instigate anti-Armenian hatred.[11] The country continues its military buildup, re-writes its own and the region’s history, and distorts the essence of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by misrepresenting the case of self-determination of Nagorno Karabakh as Armenia’s territorial claim against Azerbaijan.
State-controlled media help maintain anti-Armenian sentiments in the society at a dangerously high level. Be it burning books of Azeri writer Akram Aylisli, whose Stone Garden novel dared to be somewhat neutral towards Armenians and recounted Azeri bloody atrocities against local Armenian population,[12] or pardoning and glorifying Safarov, who had axed a sleeping Armenian officer in Hungary in 2004 and was illegally released after extradition,[13] or series of hate-speech tweets and statements by Aliyev calling all Armenians enemies of Azerbaijan,[14] the regime’s behavior demonstrates the highest level of intolerance and hatred within Azerbaijan towards Armenians.
“Orwellian” Azerbaijan has certainly passed beyond the pale of norms and principles of international law and fundamental human rights. Aliyev’s regime must be held responsible for its stance. Otherwise, the world risks seeing further misbehavior and more opportunities for greater regional instability. An appeasement policy that turns a blind eye on aggressive behavior only encourages dictators to think that “ignorance” is really “strength” and might lead to another regional catastrophe.
Notes
[1] Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), “OCCRP Names Aliyev “Person Of The Year”, December 31, 2012: https://occrp.org/occrp/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-indepth/1772-occrp-names-aliyev-qperson-of-the-year-q-
Also read: “Offshore Companies Link Corporate Mogul, Azerbaijan’s President”, RFR/RL, April 04, 2013: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-aliyev-family-offshore-businesses/24947900.html?fb_action_ids=508187335906797&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%22508187335906797%22%3A481670968554894%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22508187335906797%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D;
See also: “Pricey real estate deals in Dubai raise questions about Azerbaijan’s president”, The Washington Post, March 5, 2010: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030405390.html
Read also: “The Corleones of the Caspian. How Azerbaijan’s dictator woos the United States and Europe”, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2014: http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/06/10/the-corleones-of-the-caspian/
[2] Freedom in the World 2014/Azerbaijan: https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2014/azerbaijan#.VNP-qmjF8b4
[3] Freedom House Report, “Nations in Transit 2014/Azerbaijan”: https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/NIT14_Azerbaijan_final.pdf
[4] Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the Inaugural Plenary Session of the 23rd Annual Session of the OSCE PA, 28 June 2014: http://en.president.az/articles/12353
[5] “Azerbaijan cracks down while chairing Council of Europe”, BBC, 12 October 2014: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29559009
[6] Reporters Without Borders: http://en.rsf.org/azerbaijan.html; Also see: “Azerbaijan: Support jailed journalists and human rights defenders”, Index on Censorship, 23 December, 2014: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2014/12/azerbaijan-support-jailed-journalists-human-rights-defenders/
[7] Human Rights Watch, “World Report 2015/Azerbaijan”, January 2015: http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/azerbaijan
[8] The New York Times, “Azerbaijan Snubs the West” by Joshua Kucera, January 8, 2015: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/opinion/azerbaijan-snubs-the-west.html?_r=0
[9] Collection of war threat statements by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials: http://www.eufoa.org/uploads/AliyevWarThreats.pdf
[10] Azerbaijani Defense Ministry: “We won’t withdraw snipers from the front line, unless war ends”, 17 September, 2013: http://en.apa.az/news/199602 ; Read also: http://armenpress.am/eng/news/640485/ Read also: http://asbarez.com/94262/osce-chairman-calls-for-immediate-withdrawal-of-snipers/
[11] “Anti – Armenian propaganda and hate dissemination carried out by Azerbaijan as a serious obstacle to the negotiation process”; Publisher: Armenia, 7 October, 2008: http://www.osce.org/odihr/34195?download=true
[12] “Azerbaijani Party Leader Offers Reward For Writer’s Ear”, RFE/RL, November 2, 2013: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-novelist-reward-cutting-off-ear-aylisli/24899021.html
[14] “Our main enemies are Armenians of the world…”, Extract from speech of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, February 28, 2012 http://en.president.az/articles/4423
I am very dissapointed, but not surprised to see such an unprofessional, biased and narrow-minded conclusions by Master student. Actually, we should blame the editorial staff of the Foreign Policy Journal and staff of George Mason University for such a negative article about US ally in Caucasus – Azerbaijan. This article, is nothing more than histerically collected, only negative fictional information about Azerbaijan, by a young, unprofessional amrenian master student. I would adives this young person as well as the editorial staff, next time to wirte about shootings and killings of peaceful demonstators in Yerevan, about hatred of armenians to other nationalities, by building mono-ethnic country as result of forcible expulsion of Azerbaijanis and others from armenia, as well as about the war crimes commited by a current armenian president – sarkisyan. Its a shame to such a journal like Foreign Policy to publish such a provocative article. I am repeating, its nothing more than, promotion of so obvious anti-Azerbaijan progapanda at his Journal.
I can see, that there are Orwelian successor growing at George Mason insittute. Your reference to Orwell “Oceania” has nothing to do with the most tolerant home of multy-culturalism, rich and prosperious country – Azerbaijan. I do not understand the logic, motive of this articel. Can onyone from the Froeign Policy Journal explain me the aim of this artilce? Of course you can not.
I think the best answer to the issue of escalating violations of ceasefire at contact line in Karabakh, was given by Angela Merkel, who said that Armenia and Russia has something commonly in that fields. Now, you blame Azerbaijan, which is almost for more that 20 years showing tolerance to occupation of its lands for the sake of peace in the region. I ask Foreign Policy Journal to stop publishing such a biased and provocative articles.
It would be really strange if Mr. Avatesyan made any objective conclusion on the situation in Azerbaijan. In accordance to the fact that the author is just a voice of official state Armenian propaganda, I want to clarify a couple of facts.
Yes, we do have some problems with human rights and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, as in other countries of the region. In Armenia, for example, almost all the leaders of the country has its criminal nicknames, because these people come from the criminal world. In Georgia the country’s new leadership puts the representatives of the old regime in a jail.
Ceasfire on the frontline are provoked by Armenian leadership? because they, not Ilham Aliyev, have many unsolved problems, and exactly what they need is to divert people’s attention and most importantly the Diaspora on what is happening with economics etc.
It’s a shame to see an article of Armenian propaganda in Foreign Policy Journal.
Author is an Armenian student who demonstrates his hatred against Azerbaijan
who is the ally of the United States in the Caucasus and the most developed country
of the region. Author doesn’t want to stress that Armenia aggressed and occupied
20% of Azerbaijani territory. It is the gravest violation of norms and
principles of international law. Armenian armed forces, headed by president Serzh
Sargsyan, massacred innocent Azerbaijani civilians in Khojaly in February 1992.
It is a genocide, planned and committed by Armenian president Sargsyan. He must
respond for this crime.
Instead of blaming Azerbaijan on innocence thinks, it would be good if author would look into the picture of Armenia, the country is in poverty, during the elections Armenian president is killing the protesters and keeping Azerbaijani territories under the occupation for manipulating his political power, Russian military soldiers are killing civil Armenians, why you keep Karabakh under occupation while local Armenians are leaving the country? You are talking about regional stability, do you make any step for regional stability? Besides of Karabakh you have occupied 7 surrounding regions of Karabakh? Why are you not leaving this place, about which public diplomacy you can talk while in Karabah are living military criminal groups which was shooting people coming from Armenia last week? Are you sure that Armenia is the part of civil world? Today Azerbaijan is going to host the biggest European games in Baku? What Armenia is doing besides occupation and terroristic attacks and keeping the Russian military base in Armenia by deteriorating the regional stability? First, I advise you to find answer to these questions and ask it from you president?
A very well written and well sourced article that reveales and explains the realities of Azerbaijan’s manipulative criminal and outright racist dictatorial regime.
Would be great if the author pays attention to the same issues, but in his own country-Armenia. He should know that Radio Liberty and NDI are also closed down in Armenia. As regard to killings at contact line in Karabakh, Azerbaijani soldiers never targeted civilians, unlike Armenians.
Couldn’t wait for more “unbiased”, “fair” evaluation from the man who “serves as Counselor at the Office” of the separatists and aggressors. I would like to ask Mr. Avetisyan to speak more about the situation in Armenia itself and has the courage to confess that terrorism and falsification are official policy tools of Armenia.
Couldn’t wait for more “unbiased”, “fair” evaluation from the man who “serves as Counselor at the Office” of the separatist regime. I would like to ask Mr. Avetisyan to speak more about the situation in Armenia itself and has the courage to confess that terrorism and falsification are official policy tools of Armenia.
Very well written article. I love how all the azeris commenting are defending a dictator. He claims he is creating jobs with the construction of buildings. What he neglects to inform others is how his wife is the owner of the construction company he uses so the countries money goes into his pocket. Ask khadija ismayilova, she found out the truth and was arrested on trumped up charges. There is no free speech in azerbaijan, there is no freedom of the press in azerbaijan. All of the NGO’s have been shutdown by the dictator because of the truth they were printing. He also prevented news being released regarding the deaths of azeri soldiers because it would lower morale. Now he controls what is released and the people have no other source to compare it with.
Azerbaijan: Are Rumors Replacing News in Azerbaijan?
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71846
The entire world knows that aliyev is a dictator, that the country is one of the most corrupt in the world. The azeri population lives in a bubble and is unable to fathom the truth. All of those who speak out against the govt are sentenced to jail on trumped up charges. They claim they want peace and when Leyla Yunis and her husband are trying to forge something with Armenia, they get arrested and called Armenian spies.
What a pathetic, ignorant group these azeris are, living in there totalitarian country and praising a dictator.
They keep crying about khojaly without doing any sort of research. They keep crying about “refugees” and dont stop to think how aliyev spends $15 million on a flag that keeps ripping or how he wants to make azerbaijan like Dubai but doesnt realize, no one knows what azerbaijan is. Thats azerbaijan for you, they claim other peoples cultures, other peoples lands and now they claim other peoples creations.
Dear Aram, have you finished your Master degree successfully? I have doubt, because, such a person which lacking intellectual could complete that course and George Mason Institute
Dear aliyev, good job disproving anything i said. Looks like the education system in azerbaijan is one of the worst in the world.
One well-known religious leaders of Turkey, the leader of a religious movement, “Ismail – Aha” Dzhubbeli Ahmed ridiculed the educational system of Azerbaijan due to corruption reigning there, stressing that in this country can be without any obstacles, with the help of bribes to obtain a graduate degree from the university. This writes the Azerbaijani information portal «Virtualaz.org», referring to the Turkish media.
Armenian avetyisyan is the last person in the world to dare to write about Azerbaijan. Ramil Safarov did the right job punishing this bastard Armenian officer, and Aliyev did the right job to pardon Safarov. Proud if my president.
This is a propaganda piece commissioned and paid by Armenian dictator and war criminal Serj Sargsyan whose place is at the ICC’s bench in The Hague next to Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadic. President Aliyev fights against internal corruption and foreign aggression. He knows what he is doing. The occupied Azerbaijani land if Karabakh will be liberated from Armenian aggressors, and Serj Sargsyan who ordered this piece of propaganda BS will be brought before international tribunal to answer for his direct role in the Khojaly Genocide (which he once inadvertently admitted to British journalist Tom de Waal)
It`s amusing to see how armenian authors are “exited” about the “human rights” and “freedom of speech” in Azerbaijan)))
The author doesn`t mention the fact of population reduction for the last 15 years occured due to the occupation (with support of Russia) of 20 percent of Azeri territories. 1.5 million people has left the country !!! The population decreased from 3.5 million to 2 million … this is the fault of the Armenian authorities, Ilham Aliyev didn`t cast them out …
As for the “glorification” of Ramil Safarov, who allegedly killed a sleeping armenian officer, I can not understand how the sleeping armenian officer could open the door to Safarov ????
There is a memorial dedicated to ASALA terrorists at the military cemetery in Armenia… Streets, schools and universities are named after Nazi criminals and terrorists ! One can write a book about the glorification of terrorists and murderers in Armenia…
Wow, azeris really are ignorant. Margarian and his roommate slept with the door unlocked because it was a safe environment. Who knew a mentally challenged psychopath lurked nearby?
Deep Dive: Filling In The Gaps — Reading The Ramil Safarov Case In Azerbaijan
What happens when a state-controlled media sets an agenda and frames an issue in a particular way? In Azerbaijan, credulity — a state of willingness to believe in something in the absence of reasonable proof or knowledge — wins.
In a media environment controlled by the government like Azerbaijan’s, as my colleague Sarah Kendzior masterfully argues about Uzbekistan, all potential information is taken seriously. And, in the case of the Safarov affair in Azerbaijan, the government’s elaborate framing of what occurred, without any evidence whatsoever, has created a well-believed narrative. This narrative, originating in 2004, is the basis for much Azerbaijani justification in 2012.
The murder of Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan in 2004 by Azerbaijani Senior Lieutenant Ramil Safarov took place 10 years after a cease-fire agreement was brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ironically, the two military officers were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace English-language course.
All governments, to different degrees, use the media to sway the public. They do this through agenda setting and framing. Agenda setting is the “public awareness” of a set of issues while framing is when an aspect of a perceived reality is made more salient in a communication context to promote a particular problem, definition, interpretation, or evaluation with cognitive schema for understanding. By following the media reports about the incident, it is possible to piece together the agenda setting and framing strategies.
All news content that included the name Ramil Safarov and was translated into English by the BBC Monitoring Service from 2004-2011 was analyzed. (The search was conducted through infoweb.newsbank.com and LexisNexis.) Though these results do not include every possible mention of the Safarov affair, it can be considered fairly representative of news in the countries it covers. The full text of media coverage is available here.
The first reports of the murder were published on the same day as the event and placed Safarov as the sole suspect. The Associated Press quoted the Budapest police major saying: “[W]e suspect Ramil S. of having committed murder with unusual cruelty…a number of knife wounds…the victim’s head was practically severed from his body.” The Armenian media also reported the murder on the day that it occurred, based on a statement from the Armenian Defense Ministry. The initial framing of the murder by the ministry placed Safarov as a representative of the Azerbaijani government, with claims that the crime was “a direct consequence of the policy of aggression, hatred, and animosity towards the people of Armenia.”
Azerbaijani ATV television news responded to the Armenian Defense Ministry’s statement with a “clarification” from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry that Safarov’s mental state must be considered. This is the beginning of the dominant Azerbaijani framing of “Safarov was driven to do this because the Armenians made him suffer.” In this report, Safarov’s status as an internally displaced person (IDP) was highlighted — his family was from an Armenian-occupied region and his family “was living in a Baku hostel in deplorable conditions,” although the statement did not note for how long this had occurred. The Azerbaijani ministry spokesman also noted that “many” of Safarov’s relatives were killed by Armenians during the war, although later reports vary in the number of relatives killed. Thus, Safarov-as-victim was the first introduction to the story for the Azerbaijani audience, a completely different framing than the Armenian narrative.
The day after the murder, AFP published quotes from a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, again framing the issue as Safarov-as-victim-of-Armenian-aggression and focusing on his IDP status, saying that “[A]ll this could not have failed to have an effect on Ramil Safarov‘s emotional state.” The AFP article was the introduction of what would become the understood straw that broke the camel’s back: Margaryan insulting Safarov. AFP quoted Azerbaijani officials claiming that Margaryan “impugning [Safarov’s] honor as an officer and Azeri citizen and insulting the memory of victims of the Armenian aggression,” but without any attribution for this information.
At this point, no Azerbaijani officials had been allowed to speak to Safarov. The only possible source would be one of the other students at the English-language program. But how would Azerbaijani officials be able to speak to the other students within 24 hours of the event? It is likely that as witnesses, they were instructed by police to not speak to anyone about what had occurred. Moreover, as military officers, these men have had operations security ingrained into their psyches. Information disclosure is not something that they would take lightly. Nonetheless, there was a second Azerbaijani officer, Anar Aliyev, on the program who may have spoken to someone about insults, but it is impossible to know if this occurred or if the insult argument originated from Baku.
The insult incident also conflicts with statements from the program’s Hungarian rector, quoted in Hungarian media, that the Armenian and Azerbaijani officers were on good terms and often joked with one another.
A week after the murder, the kindling of the insult incident began to ignite. A representative of the Karabakh War Veterans’ organization held — for no apparent reason — a press conference on the Safarov case and said that it “did not rule out that the Armenian officer had made insulting remarks in his relations with Safarov, which brought about the incident in the end.”
Then the insult turned into “systematically and purposefully exerted psychological pressure” from Margaryan to Safarov, according to Bilik news on February 25. Similarly, Azerbaijani Space TV also reported on February 25 that “It turned out that a week before the incident, the killed man and another Armenian officer insulted Safarov in a dormitory. The tension was defused through the intervention of other officers. However, as Safarov did not produce a strong reaction, the Armenian officers regarded this as his cowardice and cruelly insulted him. When they learnt that Safarov was from the currently occupied Cabrayil District, the Armenian officers started insulting him in a crueler way and exasperated him.”
It would be logical to inquire about the source of this information, yet none exists. Azerbaijani news agency Turan said that the information originated from “unofficial sources” on March 3, but in the same report: “[A]sked what was known about the reasons for the incident that led to the killing of an Armenian officer, the [Defense Ministry] spokesman said the investigation into the incident was still under way and that the Hungarian side was not disclosing any information in the interests of the investigation.”
On February 27, the Azerbaijani ombudsman added more twists to the insult: “Not only did he [Armenian officer] play a tape with the voices of suffering Azerbaijani women and girls, but he also cleaned his shoes with an Azerbaijani flag in front of Ramil [Safarov]. At that moment Ramil defended his national honor and responded immediately and correctly to this. I think that the world community should accept this.”
How did the ombudsman learn that a tape of suffering Azerbaijanis was played? And how did Margaryan, age 16 in 1994 during the last possible time any such tape could have been created, have such a tape 10 years later? And why did he bring this tape to Budapest with him? Similarly, how did the ombudsman learn that about a shoe cleaning incident?
Finally, on March 9, there is a third-hand report of repeated insults. Azerbaijani Space TV reported that Safarov’s father met with Safarov and was told about the repeated insults. What seems strange is that it is a reasonable assumption that Safarov’s attorneys instructed him to not admit guilt or discuss possible motives with anyone, even his father. Nonetheless, Safarov’s attorney also spoke to Space TV and said the incident had occurred because of the Armenian officer’s “unethical behavior.” After this, the news about the Safarov case quieted down for a while, but in May, the ombudsman and Safarov’s attorney met with Safarov. The attorney reported that only 10 people had been questioned as witnesses and three forensic examinations had been carried out and that Attorney Ismayilov had not been allowed to closely familiarize himself with the case. Given this, the claims over what occurred during the murder are even stranger.
The trial began in November 2004, but was postponed until February 2005. In March, the Azerbaijani Organization of Karabakh Liberation and other NGOs published a document making the insult argument to the Hungarian parliament, media, and the court itself to no avail. The trial finished in April 2006 during which Safarov was found guilty of both the murder of Margaryan and the intended murder of the other Armenian officer. The sentence was upheld in February 2007. In August of 2012, Safarov returned to Azerbaijan and was immediately pardoned and promoted as a hero.
In the days following the pardon, the Azerbaijani social media discussion frequently cited the insult incident as fact and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry mentioned it in a letter to Hungary (it is unclear for whom the letter is intended).
It is impossible to know if, in fact, Margaryan or the other Armenian officers insulted Safarov, played a tape of suffering Azerbaijanis, or cleaned his shoes with the Azerbaijani flag. However, no witness came forward in the media or the trial to support any of these claims. Non-Armenian or Azerbaijani witnesses have no motivation to not testify to what they saw. Despite the absence of evidence, the vast majority of Azerbaijanis seem to believe that Margaryan insulted Safarov.
What role does evidence play in Azerbaijan? The media has to promote the state’s line and does so by engaging in kompromat (from the Russian abbreviation of compromising materials). Traditionally mudslinging about political figures, kompromat “often employs somewhat dubious facts and figures, sometimes with a grain of truth and sometimes essentially groundless.” Thus, for the media, evidence does not matter.
But why are Azerbaijani citizens willing to believe stories without evidence? First, the psychological state of Azerbaijani citizens is marked by a “pervasive bitterness and growing sense of deprivation,” a general sense of apathy and fear, and a lack of trust in others.
Second, the Azerbaijani public trusts the state run media. Nearly half of Azerbaijanis (in an early 2012 survey conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center) cite ANS television as the most trusted TV channel, and a quarter named Khazar. Moreover, nearly three-quarters of Azerbaijanis believe that TV channels provide unbiased news coverage. Third, the narrative presented by the Azerbaijani media fed into nationalistic and anti-Armenian attitudes already predominant amongst Azerbaijanis.
This leads to a low willingness to question media reports or express beliefs contrary to the dominant government narrative. An Azerbaijani citizen criticizing this story could experience attacks like blogger Arzu Geybullayeva or anonymous blogger Scary Azeri have. These two live outside of Azerbaijan and have less to fear than Azerbaijani citizens inside.
Even critics of the government are reluctant to question the government’s position on the Safarov affair. Emin Milli, a known opposition figure, recently blogged that there are Azerbaijanis who disagree with “the disgusting government propaganda,” although he too seems to believe that the insults occurred. And while it may indeed be the case that some Azerbaijanis deviate from the government, it is not realistic or safe for them to speak out.
Will credulity win in Azerbaijan? It certainly appears to be the case.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65889
p.s see Wikipedia for the right spelling of the names in English, If you don`t get, ask me .
Claiming the fact that Media in Azerbaijan is controlled by the government, you forgot to mention that everything and everyone in Armenia is controlled by Moscow. The recent events in Gyumri have shown the way that Moscow treats its vassals.
Sure, Ramil Safarov is a criminal, and he spent 8 years in prison for it. But how were punished Soghomon Tehlirian? Misak Torlakian? Monte Melkonian?
I see You have forgotten how your poets and writers praised the terrorists and murderers? For example, Gourgen Yanikian, Levon Ekmekjian…
ASALA terrorist Varoujan Garabedian has been recognized as a hero in Armenia, you probably forgot about it as well. I advise you, to learn better your own history and reality before you “describe” a single case in Azerbaijan!
p.s see Wikipedia for the right spelling of the names in English, If you don`t get, ask me .
Claiming the fact that Media in Azerbaijan is controlled by the government, you forgot to mention that everything and everyone in Armenia is controlled by Moscow. The recent events in Gyumri have shown the way how Moscow treats its vassals.
Sure, Ramil Safarov is a criminal, and he spent 8 years in prison for it. But how were punished Soghomon Tehlirian? Misak Torlakian? Monte Melkonian?
I see You have forgotten how your poets and writers praised the terrorists and murderers? For example, Gourgen Yanikian, Levon Ekmekjian…
ASALA terrorist Varoujan Garabedian has been recognized as a hero in Armenia, you probably forgot about it as well. I advise you, to learn better your own history and reality before you “describe” a single case in Azerbaijan!
I’m not the only won saying that, Freedom House says it as well.
https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan#.VN1ShflSaUs
Go ask how Huseynov is doing, hiding in the Swiss Embassy because he keeps getting targeted by the aliyev clan for his persistent criticism of the corrupt govt.
Safarov was tried in the Hungarian court, what did azeris claim? Margaryan criticized him. Did a witness back that up? No. Then azeris claimed Margaryan played a tape of children crying and how it was supposedly from khojaly. Did they find the tape? No. Margaryan was 14 during the war and would have to have carried the supposed tape with him for years. azeris did everything possible to lay blame on an innocent person who had been brutally killed by a psychopath. He was sentenced to life in prison and was released because the azeri govt bribed the Hungarian govt.
http://www.economist.com/node/21562199
Soghomon Tehlirian had lost his entire family to the Genocide. Tehlirian’s mother, three sisters, his sister’s husband, his two brothers, and a two-year-old niece were killed. He got revenge on the perpetrator, was tried and found innocent.
Tolakian is the same, he lost his family to the Genocide and took revenge on the perpetrators.
Monte came from the US to help the Armenians fight the azeris. He left the ASALA because of a dispute with Hagopian because Monte was against getting innocent people in the crossfire to achieve his goals.
Lets look at the azeris. ibad huseynov beheaded an innocent Armenian and was called a hero because everyone thought the innocent man was Monte, which he wasnt.
ibrahimov and his fellow soldiers crossed the contact line and wound up killing 4 Karabakh soldiers. azeris praised him as a hero and named schools after him.
Another great article about how “free” the totalitarian govt is.
Trapped in Baku
A press freedom advocate — and husband of an American servicewoman — went to the U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan, fearing for his life. But he was turned away.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/11/trapped-in-baku-azerbaijan-emil-huseynov-swiss-embassy/
Another pro-armenian article! Dear foreign policy journal, how can you be fair if you allow armenian avetisyan to publish a biased article in your journal?! This goes even beyond bias! Armenia invaded 20% of Azerbaijan territory and occupied Karabakh. Azerbaijan has over 1 million refugees and IDPs. Moreover, armenians which one of them is author of this article, has perpetrated one of the most atrocious genocides in world history in Khojaly, Karabakh! That was an ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis in 1992, February 26. This is a brilliant example of malevolence of this journal against Azerbaijan and intercession to Armenia. It would be more impartial if you would lighten how the human rights are infringed in occupied Karabakh and Armenia itself armenian government. I see how armenians are delighted with this article, but those poor people deceive themselves by such articles in order to forget about their internal problems :) but do not forget that in modern world, it is just a poor propaganda and not more. You could think another methods may be, but nothing would help you while Azerbaijan is always the justified part in this conflict. The thoughts of those armenians who knows the truth and which debate fairly will be never published in such journals, which they are even oppressed in their own country by the vicious regime.
you are the brainwashed dolt the author of the article is referring to. Khojaly was a azerbaijani false flag operation.
The author, which is the fan of “Oceania”, had a lot of mistakes in this so called “viewpoint”. It is actually armenians, led by “War is Peace” slogan, when they commited massarce in Azeri town Kholajy, with the help of Soviet armed forces.
Armenian may be poor, may be forced to align with Moscow….thanks to neighbours on the West and the East….one already committed genocide the other wished it could followup on the act. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, is on the brink of implosion, turning into a failed state. There is ample evidence in recent history which indicates that uni-industrial (almost always oil-driven) dictatorial regimes crumble when its people, having nothing to lose rise up and get rid of their tormentors. Best case scenario for the Aliyev clan is Mubarak’s fate, the worse case is a repeat of Gadaffi’s demise. That is why Aliyev simply cannot tolerate dissent. Those who dare to say a “boo” are carted off to jail…..this does not bode well for the future of Azerbaijan’s ruling class.
Therefore, Aliyev craves for enemies, and that explains his racist anti-Armenian rhetoric and aggression on the borders on a daily basis. Peaceful resolution with Armenia spells the end of the sultanate of Azerbaijan. Aliyev, acting like a Robert Mugabe style despot, is ready to sacrifice his people by what seems to be a march towards an inevitable war rather than yield his dictatorial powers, a path which inevitably would take him straight to jail, or lose his head!
great article! ignore the trolls paid by dictator aliyev.