by Mina Muradova (04/17/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
On April 10, Azerbaijani authorities shut down the Azad Fikir University (AFU, Free Thought University) set up by Western-educated youth leaders to promote human rights and other democratic values among youth. Human rights activists consider this step as representative of the government’s increasing pressure on alternative voices in the country ahead of the presidential election in October, 2013. On April 10, AFU informed its ca. 16,000 Facebook followers that representatives of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office arrived at the AFU without warning, sealed the door and closed the office.
by Mina Muradova (04/03/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Azerbaijani opposition leader Ilgar Mammadov has released an open letter from prison, reading: “Here in prison it is particularly striking to see how the international community is ridiculously trying to play by civilized rules with the rich Azerbaijani dictatorship, while the latter is laughing right in the face of that community and of its own citizens...”
by Mina Muradova (03/06/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
A recent statement of Georgia’s President after his visit to Baku, alleging that Russia was going to destabilize the situation in Azerbaijan as it did in his country before last year’s elections, has caused concerns in both countries. The statement appears in a situation where Baku reportedly experiences tensions with Moscow, but Tbilisi is seeking to normalize its relations with Russia.
The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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