Blogging the democratic revolution
Somewhat predictably, after the united opposition failed in its attempt to enact a colored revolution in Azerbaijan — or at least prevent voter fraud at the municipal level — it completely fell apart. This Eurasia Daily Monitor article goes into detail about how the Azadliq “Freedom” coalition has split up on the national level following…
A crowd of over 15,000 demonstrators gathered in Baku’s Victory Square to protest Sunday’s fraudulent elections. The protests had been sanctioned by the government for today, but it is unlikely that further protests will be officially allowed. Opposition leaders have vowed to continue taking to the streets through the weekend, and if history is any…
Here’s a quick roundup about what all the regional blogs are saying, and then below that will be the aftermath of election day. – New Eurasia is blogging a storm. Just scroll. It includes on the ground reporting, pictures of campaign posters, exit poll information, and an appearance by Ariel Cohen calling the election the…
Parliamentary elections are due to be held in Azerbaijan on November 6, and the opposition hasn’t held back in making it known that it intends to attempt a colored revolution in the event of fraud. However, most observers believe that this event will be more violent than velvet, a repeat of the October 2003 street…
The big news in Azerbaijan is that, less than two weeks away from parliamentary elections scheduled for November 6, President Aliyev has ordered that NGOs be allowed to monitor the election and that indelible ink must be used to prevent double voting. All of these are measures requested by the OSCE in order to hold…
As parliamentary elections on November 6 near, hardliners within the Azeri government are feeling the heat and are cracking down on reformers within their midst. This has culminated in the firing and arrest of Economic Development Minister Farhad Aliyev and his brother Rafiq Aliyev, who is the owner of Azpetrol, the biggest privately owned oil…
With parliamentary elections on a few weeks away, and the prospect of a colored revolution on the horizon, the Freedom bloc (comprised of three major parties) is uniting with another opposition party, the National Unity bloc, in order to support each others’ candidates and ensure that the government doesn’t rig the election. Executives of Azadlig…
Over the weekend, the Azeri opposition staged a rally that was unsanctioned by the government. The consequences for doing so were disastrous, with the police arresting up to 100 activists in one fell swoop, beating with batons dozens more. With elections coming up in just over a month, it goes to show how a government…
Considering rallies just a few month ago could barely top a tenth of that, it just goes to show how the government’s allowing of protest rallies has swelled the ranks and notoriety of the united opposition. In the largest rally I have yet to cover for this country, 20,000 opposition activists clad in the color…
Marianna, the blogosphere’s resident election observer, has posted her latest report.
Presidents Kocharian of Armenia and Aliyev of Azerbaijan, two countries tangled in constant conflict, are due to meet face to face at a CIS meeting today and will likely discuss relations between the two countries. In particular, the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Secretary Rice made sure to call them both up and put her word…
After the government of Azerbaijan accused the opposition of being funded by Armenian intelligence and NDI for a coup, the political progress in the country seems to be degrading quickly. In my analysis of what happened, I wrote that, “using Armenia is probably the best way for the Azeri government to discredit the opposition in…
The leader of the Yeni Fikr youth movement has been arrested by authorities, who are claiming that he took money from Armenian special intelligence in order to prepare a revolution in Azerbaijan through a plot hatched by the United States NDI. Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced on 4 August the arrest of Ruslan Bashirli, leader of…
This is cool. There’s a reason this is becoming more and more frequent. BAKU, July 10 (AFP) – Some 10,000 opposition members, many dressed in orange, demonstrated Sunday in the centre of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to call for fair parliamentary elections in November. Participants at the rally, organised by the opposition Azadlyg (Freedom) Bloc, shouted:…
When discussing the move towards democracy in Eastern Europe, I always try to remind of the revitalized GUAM alliance, which is meant to secure economic independence toward Russia and move toward western values. The A in GUAM stands for Azerbaijan, which is generally more repressive than the others: Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova. After the opening…
To give some short-term background: The Azeri government has, in the past few weeks, really cracked down on opposition leaders and arrested hundreds of people. With this rally, as with all, the opposition applied for approval to hold their rally but they were denied. But instead of staying home, they came out into the streets…
As the November parliamentary race is unfolding in Azerbaijan, Aliyev’s government has decided to start early and wage a campaign of far among opposition supporters. A protest among several opposition and youth groups was planned over the last week for Saturday, but the police cracked down and arrested dozens of leaders and activists. All of…
Earlier this week, Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky announced that he had offered 10 CDs of the Melnychenko recordings to Viktor Yushchenko. Now, the Parliament has denied Berezovsky an entry visa: KIEV, April 22 (Itar-Tass) – The Supreme Rada (parliament) of Ukraine has refused to support the request of MP Alexander Volkov to Ukrainian President Viktor…
Remembering my post from yesterday on Armenian and Azeri opposition groups, I come across this article on RFE/RL describing the Azeri opposition movement. Prague, 19 April 2005 (RFE/RL) — Several opposition leaders and former government officials announced on 12 April the creation of a new election bloc to run for seats in Azerbaijan’s Milli Meclis,…
Blogger Tim Russo, who did democracy work in Armenia, tells us not to hold our breath on a united opposition front there. Armenian opposition parties might be the most splintered opposition in the entire former Soviet Union. Almost daily, some guy decides that the other guy running the party doesn’t deserve to run the party,…
Several hundred journalists, activists, and colleagues of the late Elmar Huseynov rallied and called for the government to speed up investigations into the murdered editor’s death. BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – About 700 journalists and rights activists rallied in Azerbaijan’s capital Saturday to protest what they call authorities’ failure to fully investigate the death of an…
I don’t really like making a post to just one article at a time so I’m going to just put everything for Central Asia I’ve read today here. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has suggested that his country may hold presidential elections in 2009. Let’s all take a deep breath so that our laughs can be…
Just after many major opposition leaders were released from prison, they’ve decided to make Aliyev regret it. In the beginning of April, the three main Azeri opposition parties will unite and stage a protest against the government. BAKU. March 28 (Interfax-Azerbaijan) – Three Azerbaijani opposition groups – the Popular Front, the Democratic Party and Musavat…
President Aliyev of Azerbaijan recently stated how much he wishes there was a viable opposition at the polls to give him some competition. Of course, that might actually happen if the government didn’t suppress it. BAKU, March 27 (AFP) – Azerbaijan’s ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan late Saturday elected the country’s President Ilham Aliyev as its…
The past few days have brought quite a bit of good news from countries we wouldn’t expect. Just yesterday, the President of Azerbaijan signed a decree to release 53 political prisoners, and scores more. BAKU, Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev pardoned more than 100 prisoners on Sunday, including dozens of opposition politicians whose release…