Political prisoners is a result of political regime of Azerbaijan

     Release of "prisoners of conscience" does not mean the resolution of the  problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, said at  today's roundtable, organized by the Public Chamber  in the headquarters of the party "Musavat".
  The problem of political prisoners comes from the essence of the ruling regime in Azerbaijan. The participants of the roundtable  noted in their statement said that despite the release of "prisoners of conscience" on June 9,  Shahin Hasanli  and Vidadi Iskenderli also remain in custody ; they were arrested due to rally on  April 2, 2011.
   The Azerbaijani authorities do not want to solve the problem of political prisoners. Therefore, instead of  the released political prisoners, they put in jail new ones," reads the statement of the "Public Chamber."
    Thus, new political prisoners appeared  due to the protests against the ban on hijab: Taleh Khasmammadov, journalists Anar Bayramli, Ramin Bayramov,  editor  of the "Khural"  newspaper, Avaz Zeynalli, employees of  "Khayal TV"  Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev, brother –in-law of the  head of the PFPA, Elnur Seidov, staff representative of civil society "Kura", Ilham Amiraslanov,  and the editor of "Sado Tolyshi" Hilal Mamedov.
     Without political reforms, the resolution of the problem of political prisoners is impossible, reads  the statement. Heydar Aliyev released hundreds of political prisoners, and then many international and local human rights organization stated about the  resolution of the problem. Even the institution  of the PACE special rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan was abolished. However, then began the  arrests of journalists, the wave of repression against opposition activists and civil society," said the head of the Popular Front Party, Ali Kerimli.
    Aliyev’s  regime can not survive without political prisoners, his policy is based on the management of the society in fear,  said the leader of the party "Musavat", Isa Gambar.
    "The problem of political prisoners is the nature of the Aliyev’s regime.  Aggravating this  problem the regime seeks to create internal tensions in the society. The power uses this problem in political bargaining with international organizations.
   The authorities want to use this issue to maintain power in the presidential elections in 2013, but the international community no longer accepts these conditions," says Gambar.
   According to a human rights activist Eynulla Fatullayev, the  PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights confirmed the existence of 89 political prisoners in Azerbaijan. At the same time, 20 people from this list have been  freed.
   Special  concern was expressed at the forum regarding the facts of the arrest of activists on charges of spying for Iran, illegal possession of drugs, etc. "The crisis in relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, is followed by arrests of citizens in Azerbaijan and Iran.
   "I'm suspicious  about recent arrests  by the representatives of the National Security Ministry (NSM)  of persons accused of terrorism. One of the residents of Zagatala region,  mentioned in the recent report  of the NSM, was killed in 2008 in Chechnya," said the Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, Leyla Yunus.
       Famous scholar and social activist, Jamil Hasanli, noted that even  such a brutal regime , as the  Soviet government, did not arrest civilly active people on trumped-up charges of drug possession. He called  an absurd the arrest of  Hilal Mamedov  for spying for Iran.    "The arrest  of such a  smart, capable, educated man, on charges of espionage, is not only illegal, it  is also immoral," said Hasanli.
     Roundtable participants also expressed their gratitude to Amnesty International and PACE Rapporteur  for political prisoners, Christopher Strasser, for their efforts to protect the rights of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Artur Armenson

 http://www.armnews.eu

Paul Flynn: Exclude Azerbaijan from the Council of Europe

Today Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on "The crisis of democracy and the role of government in modern Europe" based on the report from the Swiss deputy, Andreas Gross. The author believes that the economic crisis in Europe has exacerbated public distrust of democracy. "In a broad sense, this was due to serious shortcomings in the functioning of democratic institutions, which have not been able to prevent, quickly and adequately respond to new challenges," Gross said. In his view, the basic idea of democracy is the control of society over the power and promise of a fair distribution of life chances.      The report noted that a number of CE member countries are still under the monitoring of its obligations: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.      The report highlighted the role of independent media in ensuring democracy, an important institution, which provides control over actions of the government. It points to the inadmissibility of the monopolies in the media that take place in several countries of the Council of Europe.       Among the recommendations to the report, was the widespread use of direct democracy and referendums. Moreover, holding it to the initiative of 2-3% of the population is enough.           Another recommended option is "electronic democracy", in particular, the use of social networks in the transmission the population initiatives to parliaments and other government agencies.          During the debate, the deputy from Armenia, Naira Zohrabyan stuck to attacks on Azerbaijan, rather than Ilham Aliyev. Condemning extremism in Europe, Zohrabian called the speech by the President of Azerbaijan at the PA "Euronest" session in Baku on April 2," a masterpiece of racism and xenophobia."     She also accused the government of Azerbaijan and the press "in the cultivation of tolerance to the Armenians." Zohrabyan also proposed to investigate books on Azerbaijan, where "the Armenians are presented as the killers."      The deputy from Azerbaijan, Rovshan Rzayev, noted that the unresolved Karabakh conflict impedes the development of the country. He called on the Council of Europe to promote conflict resolution. "We do not want war in the Caucasus. If we could solve the Karabakh conflict and return the millions of refugees to their homes, we have not heard those criticisms that we hear in this room," Rzayev said.     British deputy Paul Flynn said that it is impossible to justify the violation of democracy by   the unresolved Karabakh conflict. He said that if the problems of human rights and political prisoners are not solved in Azerbaijan, the country should be excluded from the Council of Europe. Flynn thanked Gross for his assistance in solving the problems of human rights, including Azerbaijan.        Azerbaijani deputy Rafael Huseynov noted the Council of Europe does not react to, Armenian defenders claims of human rights abuses in that country and Armenia's occupation of territories.      After Huseynov’s speech, Jean-Claude Mignon called on deputies from Azerbaijan and Armenia to cease mutual recriminations and respect members of the Assembly.      He said that previously he had net with the heads of the delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia, urging the parties to show restraint. "We will not be able to solve the conflict this way," Mignon said, adding that the restraint is important in the light of the forthcoming six-month presidency of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2013-2014.     Then the Azerbaijani deputy Aydin Abbasov was to speak, but he was not in the room and could not express his attitude to Mignon’s words. Another Azerbaijani parliamentarian, Sevinj Fataliyeva, also was absent at that moment.       During the debate, a number of deputies, mainly from Russia, tried to cast doubt on the effectiveness of Western democratic values. Thus, the logic of the deputy Alexander Sidyakin, is that democracy is fun for the well-fed.

Russian Space Force Commander on the possible Rejection of the Gabala (Azerbaijan) Radar Station
2012 June 20  

       Russia's defense will not suffer If it is decided to terminate the lease at the Gabala radar station (RLS) and "Daryal", the missile attack warning system (MAWS) in Azerbaijan. This statement made today by Oleg Ostapenko, the Lieutenant-General commander of the Russian aerospace defense 

     "At this stage, even if we abandon the Gabala station, and if the need arises there will be a decision, we will do it, so as to not cause damage to our state, its security and defense. It is our main goal," ITAR-TASS quoted Ostapenko.

     The commander also explained that the functions of the radar station "Daria" in Gabala may be assigned to the new Russian MAWS of "Voronezh" type, operating in the decimeter and meter bands.

     "Concerning the station in Armavir, it is able to solved those problems, which are served by the Gabala radar station, and at a higher level,"  said General Ostapenko, noting that the Armavir radar is better on its parameters than the station in Gabala.

       However, he did not comment on the fate of the Gabala radar station. “I’m not going to say anything in detail about the Gabala radar station, decisions will be taken and we will work in  accordance with these decisions."

 The term of the lease, the station expires at the end of this year, but six months before the parties should decide on its extension. Azerbaijan raised the rent from seven to 300 million dollars a year, Moscow has refused to pay.

    According to recent reports, officers were ordered to send their families to Russia before 1 July.

 Artur Armenson

Рубен Галчян: “Мифологизация истории: Азербайджан, Армения, вымыслы и факты”

Книга “Мифологизация истории: Азербайджан, Армения, вымыслы и факты” является контрударом по антиармянской пропаганде Азербайджана, сказал в четверг журналистам сам автор, бывший Почетный консул Армении в Лондоне, картограф Рубен Галчян.

Презентация перевода книги на армянский и русский языки состоялась в четверг в Ереване. Первое издание книги вышло на английском языке в 2009 году и представляет собой антиармянские измышления и фальсификации, напечатанные в азербайджанской прессе и изданные отдельными трудами за последние 50 лет.

«Подобные азербайджанские издания выходят на разных европейских языках и бесплатно высылаются библиотекам, университетам и политическим структурам всего мира», - сказал Галчян, добавив, что в ответ на это армянская сторона за эти годы смогла представить только несколько статей.

«Если мы и дальше будем молчать, то спустя несколько поколений молодежь, ничего не слышавшая об Армении, в библиотеках всего мира найдет только азербайджанские труды, которые будут уверять, что армяне являются пришлыми на территории Армянского нагорья», - сказал он.

По словам картографа, в его книге, на основе старых и новых карт, различных материалов, отражена история возникновения в 1918 году страны под названием Республика Азербайджан.

«Весь документальный материал, приведенный в книге, подтверждает истину происхождения страны Азербайджан в 20 веке, вопреки утверждениям азербайджанцев, что они являются наследниками кавказских албанцев» , - сказал Галчян.

В этом контексте автор книги выразил свое недоумение по поводу того, что азербайджанцы также заявляют о своем родстве с турками.

«Это чистейший парадокс, между турками и кавказскими албанцами нет ничего общего, и потом, почему азербайджанцы своими же руками уничтожают все памятники христианского наследия в Нахичевани, которые, по их словам, являются наследием «албанцев»», - сказал картограф.

В контексте азербайджанских заверений о том, что армяне появились в Армянском нагорье в 1810-х годах, Галчян подчеркнул, что во всех иностранных картах 2500- летней давности из ныне существующих стран региона обозначены только Армения и Иран, Турция на картах появилась в 13 веке, Грузия в 12 веке, а Азербайджан только в 1918 году.

В заключение картограф подчеркнул важность создания как можно больше подобных книг.

В 2004 году вышло в свет первое исследование Галчяна на английском языке - «Исторические карты Армении», где собраны находящиеся в разных библиотеках и музеях мира карты, на которых начиная с 6 века д।Р।Х. и до наших дней присутствует Армения.

Артур Агаджанян

ArmNews.Eu