Stories about Azerbaijan from June, 2011
Azerbaijan: Doubts reportedly linger about Eurovision 2012
The Oikotimes, a major Eurovision blog, says that it is still uncertain whether the European Broadcast Union (EBU) is convinced Azerbaijan can host next year's competition. The blog says that it takes more than the oil-rich former Soviet republic spending €100m to do so.
Azerbaijan: Freedom of Eurovision, including for Armenians
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on news from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that it expects Azerbaijan to allow all accredited individuals and ticket holders for next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku unfettered entry into the country with firm guarantees for their security. The blog notes that yesterday, for example,...
Azerbaijan: Photojournalist detained, deported
whatwaswritten, the blog of Global Voices author Leyla Najafli, translates a story from RFE's Azeri service reporting that Diana Markosyan, a photojournalist from Bloomberg, was detained at Baku airport earlier today. The American-Russian dual citizen of Armenian origin attempted to enter Azerbaijan without a visa as CIS citizens can. However,...
Azerbaijan: Bakhtiyar Hajiyev Video Campaign
Supporters of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, the Harvard graduate, parliamentary candidate, Facebook activist and Amnesty International prisoner of conscience recently sentenced to two years in prison on what human rights groups consider to be politically motivated charges, have launched a video campaign calling for his release. Details of how to participate in the...
Azerbaijan: A military show of strength or rhetoric for domestic consumption?
Etiraz comments on this weekend's annual Army day in Azerbaijan, questioning its country's massive expenditure on military hardware. With a defense budget at least equal to, or reportedly greater than, Armenia's entire state expenditure, the Azerbaijani blog says that the conflict with its neighbor over the disputed territory is more about retaining...
Armenia: LGBT Persons Still Facing Discrimination
LGBT persons are still facing discrimination in Armenia and much of the rest of the South Caucasus, a new groundbreaking two-year study by the Council of Europe (CoE) has found.
Azerbaijan: Jailed activist's mother detained
whatwaswritten translates a RFE/RL Azeri Service report saying that mother of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, an imprisoned youth activist responsible for a Facebook page calling for pro-democracy protests in Azerbaijan, was detained earlier today after placing her ruling party membership card on the grave of late president Heydar Aliyev in protest. The...
Featured Translator: Fabienne Der Hagopian
Fabienne Der Hagopian is a volunteer translator for Global Voices in French. Being of Armenian descent, she has translated into French many posts about the Caucasus, but is also passionate about the world at large. Fabienne reflects on her experience as a volunteer translator.
Azerbaijan: Conditional Freedom
On his new blog, Freedom in Azerbaijan, Emin Milli writes about the restrictions on his freedom since being released from prison. In particular, the dissident blogger and former prisoner of conscience says that he is unable to leave the country until the end of his parole, but that it “will...
