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BAKU. July 7, 2008: Visit of Eldar Namazov, chairman of the Public Forum for the Sake of Azerbaijan, to WashingtonDC started on July 7.  The program of the five-day visit includes meetings in the US State Department and other US state agencies, both Houses of the US Congress, international NGOs, research centers, mass media and representatives of Azeri Diaspora in the US.

BAKU. July 7, 2008: Trial of Sergei Strekalin, who is charged on two unrelated accounts - stabbing Azadlig daily’s correspondent Agil Khalil on March 13 and a drug possession, has continued today in Nasimi District Court in Baku.

BAKU. July 7, 2008: There are some positive changes in the official Tbilisi’s policy towards Azeris, Turan was told by Kamran Ramazanli, the chairman of the "Caucasus" ResearchCenter.  He said the Georgian authorities canceled the appointment of the principals of schools on the basis of their obligatory knowledge of Georgian language.  At the present, Azeris are again appointed as principals to the Azeri schools in Georgia.

BAKU. July 7, 2008: "We all are interested in the soonest realization of NABUCCO,  the Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said in Baku, as NABUCCO  has some advantages over the Southern Stream. The Hungarian prime minister expressed his countries full support for the gas project which envisions delivering natural gas to the European market bypassing Russia.  We have to remind that NABUCCO project is in fierce competition with another gas project – Southern Stream, which is lobbied by Russia and envisions channeling all the marketable gas in the region through the Russian territory under the supervision of the giant Russian gas monopoly “Gazprom.”

BAKU. July 5, 2008: Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány will arrive in Baku on July 7-8. He will discuss the  questions of cooperation in the energy sphere, including the NABUCCO gas pipeline.

BAKU. July 4, 2008: On Friday at about 12.00 o’clock about 10 members of Dalga youth organization took an attempt to stage an action of protest in defense of the independent press in front of the OSCE office in Land Mark business centre.  Click  here for video

YEREVAN. July 4, 2008: Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian informed Armenian journalists about the details of his conversation with Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev in Bishkek within the framework of session of the defense ministers of the CIS member-states.
“I informed Safar Abiyev about the inhuman actions of Azeri snipers,” said Ohanian, reminding that in June two residents of Chinar village of Tavush region of Armenia, had been killed by Azerbaijani snipers.  “I told Abiyev that Azeri sniper wounded local resident by one shot and finished him off with the second shot.  When Abiyev told me that there are also victims on the Azeri side, I told him that this is punishment for Chinar village,” Ohanian said.

NAKHCHIVAN. July 4, 2008: Intigam Ismaylov, resident of Nahajir village in Nakhchivan’s Julfa region, who was earlier arrested for disruption of public order and sentenced to 15 days of imprisonment on July 1, has been released from prison this morning ahead of time.

BAKU. July 4, 2008: Gabala radar could not replace elements of anti-missile defense system, which will be installed in CzechRepublic, said Karel Shwarzenberg, Czech Foreign Minister, in Baku today when asked by TURAN, if Gabala radar could be used as element of global anti-missile defense system.

BAKU. July 3, 2008: "Azerbaijan is our strategic partner in the Caucasus.  The special character of our relations helps in the resolution of different problems,” the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev said at the meeting with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev, according to the Russian sources.  Referring to the examples of the successful bilateral cooperation, he noted that the bilateral trade balance of 2008 is likely to reach $2 billion.  

BAKU. July 3, 2008: Azerbaijan and Russia are going to strengthen their cooperation in the South Caucasus and the Caspian region, reads the Friendship and Cooperation Declaration signed by the Russian and Azeri presidents on Thursday.  According to the document, Russia and Azerbaijan are against changing the internationally recognized borders by force, considering it to be unacceptable.  The document reads about the necessity to solve the Mountainous Garabagh conflict on the basis of the commonly accepted norms and principles of international law.  The solution of that problem should be based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the inviolability of state borders, and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the OSCE, reads the joint declaration.

BAKU. July 3, 2008: Five bilateral agreements were signed after the talks between the Azeri and Russian Presidents in Baku.  The presidents signed the Friendship and Strategic Partnership Declaration determining the priorities of cooperation between the two states in all spheres over the coming years.  

BAKU. July 3, 2008: Expansion of trade between Azerbaijan and Russia will be discussed during the official visit of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Baku, which starts today.  In 2008 the countries intend to increase the trade between two countries up to $2 billion, said Yuri Shedrin, the Russian Trade Representative in Azerbaijan.  In 2007 trade between two countries totaled $1 billion 723 million.

BAKU. July 3, 2008: Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in the fuel-energy industry will become the focus of attention of today’s negotiations between Russian and Azeri presidents in Baku, said Sergei Prikhodko, Assistant to the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Prikhodko said the presidents will discuss export routes of energy carriers.

BAKU. July 2, 2008: Azeri president Ilham Aliyev received the PACE President Luis Maria De Puig. During the meeting the parties discussed the relations between the Council of Europe and Azerbaijan.  The official sources did not give detailed information about the meeting. It is expected that the main focus of the discussions was on the fulfillment of Azerbaijan’s obligations in front of the Council of Europe and the PACE resolution, which was adopted a week ago during the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, and the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, including the journalists, which are currently under arrest on different charges.

Responding to the question if sanctions could be imposed on Azerbaijan, if authorities failed to fulfill the PACE resolution before the elections, Louis Maria de Puig said “everything is possible.”  He added that sanctions could be used against any country, which fails to honor its commitments in the application of the CE standards in the fields of human rights, democracy and supremacy of law.  PACE president expressed his hope that his visit would contribute to the fulfillment of PACE resolution. 

PARIS. July 2, 2008: Reporters Without Borders/Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) condemns a Baku court’s decision yesterday to order journalist Agil Khalil to attend the next hearing in the trial of a man accused of stabbing him on 13 March. Khalil says the man was falsely accused, and insists the attack was carried out by two unidentified men.

During the GUAM summit in Batumi the Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko said GUAM must be actively involved in the settlement of frozen conflicts in the territories of GUAM member-states.  “Frozen conflicts in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova are destabilizing factors.  They must be settled peacefully on the basis of principle of territorial integrity of these countries,” said president  Yushchenko.  "Right now negotiations on settlement of Abkhazian, South Ossetia and Garabagh conflicts are not effective enough. Therefore, it is necessary to find such a format of negotiations, which would enable moving forward", he added.  He stressed that “a certain success has been achieved in the settlement of Transdniestrian conflict.”

NAKCHIVAN. July 1, 2008: A resident of the village of Nahajir of Julfa region of the NakhchivanAutonomousRepublic, 47-year-old Intigam Ismayilov was arrested for 15 days because of his refusal to pay a bribe to receive a common passport.  According to Ismayilov’s wife, Gulbir, in the passport’s registration department of Nakhchivan’s Interior Ministry they demanded AZN 5  (6 USD) for the passport.  Ismayilov refused to pay and complained to the Supreme Mejlis of Nakhchivan. Despite the interference of the parliament of Nakhchivan, Ismayilov could not get his passport. After that incident two employees of the Interior Ministry of Nakhchivan detained Ismayilov and put him in the basement of the Police Department. 

BAKU. July 1, 2008: The Committee for Protection of the Rights of Oil-workers expressed concerns about the violation of property rights of people living along the constructed water pipeline Oghuz-Gabala-Baku.  During the press conference held on Tuesday the committee’s chairwoman Mirvari Gahramanli said the monitoring revealed that the construction of the water pipeline is contrary to the interests of the local population.  The prices for the lands, which are bought from the people in order to build that pipeline are ridiculously below the market prices: AZN 30 per 0.25 acres (one hundred square meters) in Oghuz, and AZN 40 per 0.25 acres in Gabala.

BAKU. July 1, 2008: On Tuesday the Speaker of Milli Mejlis (parliament) Ogtay Asadov received the PACE resident Luis Maria de Puig.  During that meeting Asadov said Azerbaijan had fulfilled most of the obligations it undertook in front of the Council of Europe and joined forty conventions. He thanked the PACE President for the support during the summer session.

BAKU. July 1, 2008: One of the topics of negotiations during the official visit of the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to Azerbaijan on July 3-4 will be the suggestion of Gazprom to buy all the natural gas reserves of Azerbaijani, said Vasili Istratov, the Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan at the press conference in Baku.  The ambassador could not say if any concrete agreements are to be reached on the gas business during the visit.  The broad spectrum of bilateral relations will be discussed during the visit.  A number of bilateral agreements will be signed, but Istratov did not specify the spheres.

BATUMI. July 1, 2008: The third summit of GUAM – Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – opens today in Batumi, Georgia.  President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, of Poland Lech Kaczynski, of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus are participating in that forum.  The summit in Batumi will be held under the motto “GUAM Unites Eastern Europe.” From June 25 to 29 in Batumi GUAM experts and national coordinators coordinated the documents, which will be signed today on July 1.

BAKU. July 1, 2008: Suggestions on the “advancement” of democracy in Azerbaijan have been voiced during the U.S.-Azerbaijani dialogue, the US ambassador Anne Derse told journalists today while commenting on the visit of David Kramer, the assistant US State Secretary, to Baku on June 27. The US ambassador said “the dialogue was very open and many issues have been discussed.”

KHANKENDI. July 1, 2008: “After the meeting in St. Petersburg Armenian and Azeri presidents asked mediators to continue the negotiations on the basis of “Madrid principles.”  The both presidents have questions and remarks on the basic principles and we have been working, specifying and coordinating them,” Yuri Merzlyakov, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman from Russia, said on Monday evening in Khankendi.

BAKU. June 30, 2008: The oil pipeline Odessa-Brody will be filled with sample (technical) oil in the near future, the Presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan stated after the negotiations in Baku.  "In the near future we will begin the transportation of oil in order to test the project," Ilham Aliyev said.  Yushchenko noted that all agreements on the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline are being observed, including the agreement on the transportation of the sample oil. Both sides, including the Joint Venture Sarmatia, are in progress, Yushchenko said, noting that there were no problems with these projects.

BAKU. June 30, 2008: Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko noted positive changes in the joint energy projects with Azerbaijan, the official website of the Ukrainian president reported.  The Ukrainian president positively regarded the successfully developing bilateral relations.  Yushchenko noted the significance of opening the monument to the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in Baku during his visit to Azerbaijan.

BAKU. June 30, 2008: Today at about 1.00 p.m. neighborhood policeman accompanied by the presidential  guards demanded that people residing at Azadlig avenue 91 should leave their apartments for the whole day, because of ceremony of opening a monument to Taras Shevchenko (Ukrainian poet).  The ceremony will be attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

BAKU. June 28, 2008: Media freedom was the focus of attention during the US-Azerbaijani dialogue, David Kramer, Assistant U.S. State Secretary for Democracy and Human Rights, told journalists after his meetings with the Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and the Azeri president Ilham Aliyev.

"We have discussed various issues: presidential elections, freedom of press and other issues related to democracy and human rights. The discussions passed in a very open atmosphere," said Kramer.

YEREVAN. June 28, 2008: Armenia watches closely the display of Azeri defense technology, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian told journalists today. He said he watched the Azeri military parade on June 26.

BAKU. June 28, 2008: Azeri military Rafael Agayev, who served in the peacekeeping contingent died in Iraq, reported the Ministry of Defense.  The press office of the Defense Ministry refused to comment upon the information.

BAKU. June 27, 2008: On Friday the police of Absheron region detained Mahal Ismayiloghlu, the former editor of Khalg Gazeti, which was the official newspaper of the Presidential Administration.

Mahal Ismayiloghlu told Turan Information Agency the following: “I was called to police at the charges pushed by my neighbor.  The  woman who works for my  neighbor complained that allegedly I put a physical pressure on her."  Mahal Ismayiloghlu expressed his concerns that the authorities were about to jail him on fabricated charges.  “I have been shown “evidences” of my violence against this woman.  This is falsification. These "witnesses" say they have given no evidences and haven’t seen anything claimed by the accusation," he said.

BAKU. June 27, 2008: Today, the assistant U.S. State Secretary for Human rights, Democracy and Labor David Kramer met with the leaders of opposition parties.  The parties discussed the issues about the arrested journalists, political prisoners, freedom of assembly, changes to the Election Code and the situation with democracy in the region during the meeting.  The information about the meeting was given by Eldar Namazov, the chairman of the Public Forum “For the Sake of Azerbaijan.”  Isa Gambar, the chairman of Musavat said the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan was also discussed during the meeting (Turan).

BAKU. June 27, 2008: Azerbaijani and Daghestan Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Mukhu Aliyev met yesterday in Baku.  The press service of the presidential administration reported that the presidents of two countries expressed satisfaction with the "development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia and Azerbaijan’s successful cooperation with separate Russian regions, including the Daghestani Republic."

BAKU. June 27, 2008: Increasing Azeri military contingent in Afghanistan was the focus of today’s negotiations between Robert Simmons, special representative of NATO Secretary General in Central Asia and South Caucasus, and Azeri president Ilham Aliyev.

Simmons said at a press conference in Baku that as soon as Azerbaijan decided to withdraw its peacekeepers from Kosovo, president Aliyev said at NATO’s summit in Bucharest that Azerbaijan is ready to double the number of its contingent in Afghanistan.

BAKU. June 26, 2008: The largest military parade took place in Baku on Azadlig square on June 26 with the participation of 4,510 military servants. Different kinds of heavy military equipment were demonstrated during the military parade. One should note that all the adjacent to the square streets were closed and people couldn’t actually see the parade. The parade began at 10:00 am.
"Azerbaijan’s army is the strongest in the region, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev at the military a parade on 90^th anniversary of Azeri Armed Forces. Our army meets the latest modern standards. The army is also getting well equipped. Over the last five years the military expenses have increased by more than 10 times, and military budget for the year 2008 exceeds $2 billion. "Priority in the budget is given to military expenses," Aliyev said.

STRASBOURG . June 26, 2008. Thomas Hammerberg, Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner plans to visit Azerbaijan after the presidential elections. "We insist that our recommendations be fulfilled," Hammerberg said.  The country which does not follow human rights cannot be free.  We will use our contacts to solve the problem in the sphere of the freedom of speech," Commissioner said.

STRASBOURG. June 26, 2008: “The Venice Commission is more a “fireman” than a police. The function of the police could be performed by the Assembly, which has the right to impose sanctions,” Azerbaijani journalists were told by Gianni Buquicchio, the head of the Venice Commission (VC) of the Council of Europe.  He said if the presidential elections were not fair the VC would not be able to do anything.

BAKU. June 25, 2008: Representatives of several political parties commented the PACE Resolution adopted on Tuesday “On the functioning of democratic institutes in Azerbaijan.”

The chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Ali Kerimli said the resolution was objective and reflected the main problems in the sphere of democracy.  "However the policy of PACE regarding Azerbaijan is not effective.  Lately seven PACE resolutions have been adopted on Azerbaijan and they all repeat each other. PACE should monitor the situation in Azerbaijan, and should clarify why the demands from Strasbourg are constantly ignored, Kerimli said.

BAKU. June 25, 2008: "We are upset with the PACE Resolution on Azerbaijan. Alongside with some positive moments in the document and criticism of Armenia’s aggression there were certain inaccuracies.  On the whole, we are not happy with the adoption of the resolution in such a form, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Mubariz Gurbanli told Turan, commenting on the Resolution "On the functioning of democratic institutes in Azerbaijan," which was adopted in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

STARASBOURG. June 25, 2008: “I am sure that the Azeri government will seriously treat Council of Europe’s recommendations and undertake the required measures,” said Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe at a press conference on Tuesday.  “As a Secretary General, I have recently expressed my concern about the  situation with journalists.  Azeri government is unfair to journalists and this attitude dissatisfies me,” said Terry Davis.

STRASBOURG. June 24, 2008: All the amendments planned by the Azerbaijani delegation have been made in the report.  The main point is that proposals of the Armenian delegation were rejected, Turan was told by Samed Seyidov, the head of the Azeri delegation to PACE, who commented on the report prepared by the rapporteurs Herkel and Zhivkova.  He said that the report was "relatively balanced."

STRASBOURG. June 24, 2008: "A year passed since the last report  on the state of democracy in Azerbaijan and we are concerned that  the situation in the sphere of human rights has not improved," the  PACE Monitoring Committee’s rapporteur, Andres Herkel said at the PACE session  in Strasbourg, Turan’s special correspondent reported.

BAKU. June 24, 2008: The coming presidential elections in Azerbaijan are "a great opportunity" to develop democratic values, said the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse at the conference on "Azerbaijan’s integration with Euro Atlantic space and democratic elections."  She said Azerbaijan itself has chosen the course of integration with Euro-Atlantic space, and it is the best way to protect the country’s independence.

MOSCOW. June 24, 2008: Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and the Armenian president Serge Sarkisian signed a joint statement on the results of their meeting on Tuesday.  Armenia’s President is sure that his visit to Moscow and talks with Medvedev will be an impulse for the development of the relations with Russia. He noted the particularly "substantial and trustful character" of the talks which confirmed the "strategic level of the ally relations" between Armenia and Russia.

New York. June 24, 2008 - The Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement today after the Nasimi District Court in Baku ruled that embattled journalist Agil Khalil must be present and participate in all court hearings in the trial of Sergei Strekalin, who is charged with attacking Khalil with a knife on March 13. Khalil -a victim of two recent assassination attempts- says that Strekalin is not the real perpetrator.

YEREVAN. June 23, 2008: Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian refuted the statements of Azerbaijan that some changes have appeared in Armenia’s positions on the settlement of the Garabagh conflict.

"In the basis of the conflict is the question of the realization of the Nagorno-Karabakh’s people’s right to self-determination.  Armenia considers the conflict should be settled on the following principles: Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) cannot be in Azerbaijan’s subordination; NK must have common borders with Armenia; the safety of the NK population must be provided; the confirmation of these principles in the agreement will lift the consequences of the conflict," Armenia’s Foreign Minister said.

Washington June 23, 2008: Propelled by a surge of oil and natural gas wealth, Russia has become the leading anti-democratic force in its region, a private democracy watchdog organization Freedom House says.

"Over time, we have seen rising oil prices correlate clearly with sharply falling democracy performance, especially in Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan," the group's director of studies, Christopher Walker, said in an interview. As energy prices increased over the past decade, the three ex-Soviet states based their growth on natural energy resources, the report said.

BAKU. June 23, 2008: David J. Kramer, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, will pay an official visit to Baku from June 26 to 28, a reliable diplomatic source told TURAN.  During the visit Kramer will hold meetings with representatives of various Ministries and agencies and members of civil society.

BAKU. June 23, 2008: On June 19, Azadlig daily’s correspondent Agil Khalil was barred from exiting the country, but none of state agencies has taken upon itself responsibility for this decision.  The journalist’s lawyer Elchin Sadygov told that this is a secret decision of  National Security Ministry.  

Strasbourg. June 23, 2008: An urgent debate on the functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey, a general policy debate on the situation in China, and a special debate on the state of democracy in Europe, involving guest speakers from civil society, are among the highlights of the summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will take place in Strasbourg from 23 to 27 June 2008.  Serbian President Boris Tadic will also address the Assembly on Thursday 26