AUG. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Anti-corruption lobby group Transparency International (TI) said it is having problems receiving funding from USAID, the US government aid agency, through an Azerbaijani bank, media reported. TI has been critical of corruption in Azerbaijan.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
AUG. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Along with Azerbaijan’s economy its real estate market is growing in size and maturity.
Media reports quoted figures released by the Central Bank saying that turnover in the real estate sector had grown by nearly 30% in the first six months of the year compared to the same time last year.
These figures are important, and they generally follow a trend across all the macro-economic data in Azerbaijan, but there is also more to the story.
In an interview with the abc.az news website, Yalchin Osmanov, a real estate manager in Baku, explained how the market was maturing.
“Previously, the market was more chaotic, as far as the prices are concerned,” he said. “Now the prices are distinctly graded by real estate location, quality of buildings and many other factors.”
So, the market is more organised with more transparent prices, but what about the buyers?
Mr Osmanov, again, explained.
“Previously people preferred to purchase real estate by cash, now most people rely on long-term credit or purchase in instalments with an initial contribution and subsequent monthly payments,” he said.
Again, this correlates with a general rise in consumer borrowing in Azerbaijan. The main risk to the economy from the real estate sector is unchecked or poorly planned consumer borrowing. International analysts have already warned Azerbaijan that is needs to rein this in.
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(News report from Issue No. 198, published on Sept. 3 2014)
AUG. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that another independent journalist has been beaten up in Azerbaijan. HRW said that several men attacked Ilgar Nasibov in his office in the Nakhchivan province. Mr Nasibov was left unconscious. HRW linked the attacked to Mr Nasibov’s anti-government stance.
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(News report from Issue No. 197, published on Aug. 27 2014)
AUG. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The United Nations and various international human rights campaigners have intensified their criticism of Azerbaijan for arresting a handful of leading activists over the past month, media reported. European leaders are courting Azerbaijan for its oil and gas but its human rights records has worsened.
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(News report from Issue No. 196, published on Aug. 20 2014)
AUG.10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted talks between Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.Fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh has intensified over the past few weeks threatening a 1994 cease-fire.
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(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)
AUG.12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has said it will export power to Iraq and Afghanistan, media reported. The deal is particularly important for the US which has urged Azerbaijan to increase its involvement in regional politics. Azerbaijan has become relatively rich through oil and gas exports.
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(News report from Issue No. 195, published on Aug. 13 2014)
AUG. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – At least 15 soldiers died around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh on probably the worst week of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan since a cease-fire in 1994.
Both sides accused the other of breaking various promises and aggravating the stand-off. International observers said they were worried the situation may slide into open conflict.
“We are seriously concerned about the recent upsurge in violence along the line of contact. The cease-fire needs to be respected,” James Warlick, a US mediator between Azerbaijan and Armenia, wrote on Twitter.
The Nagorno-Karabakh stand-off is considered one of the world’s most dangerous so-called frozen conflicts.
Armenian-backed rebels have controlled the region since the UN-brokered 1994 cease-fire. Azerbaijan, though, has always pledged to re-take the enclave and has spent millions of dollars, earned through its booming energy industry, re-arming its military.
In a sign of just how sharply the situation has worsened around Nagorno-Karabakh, reports said that President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia have agreed to meet up to discuss the situation. This is rare but is a positive sign.
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(News report from Issue No. 194, published on Aug. 6 2014)
JULY 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani police arrested Leyla Yunus, one of the government’s harshest and most prominent critics, and accused her of treason and spying. A few days later police also arrested her husband, Arif Yunus. Human rights activists and diplomats criticised the arrests.
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(News report from Issue No. 194, published on August 6 2014)
JULY 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – BP said it had hired former British PM Tony Blair for its advisory board on how best to export energy from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe. Mr Blair has been an adviser to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev since 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)
JULY 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan confirmed it would host a Formula 1 Grand Prix race in 2016. Hosting an F1 race is a huge PR success for Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev who has been looking for ways to promote the country. Next year, Azerbaijan hosts the inaugural European Games.
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(News report from Issue No. 193, published on July 30 2014)