Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Facebook)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has concluded a three-day long tour to the South Caucasus. During her trip Merkel faced questions about Georgia’s Western ambitions, her position on the region’s conflicts, and human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, and also suggested Georgians may soon be able to work in Germany. [Read more…]
Shanghai, Baku (Vafa Zeynalova /OC Media)
Shanghai, the nickname of a small district running alongside Baku’s main railway line, is set to be demolished, and the tracks fenced off in the houses’ place. While locals tell of the tragic deaths of children hit by trains in Shanghai, some say the compensation offered by the government for demolishing their homes is not enough to move elsewhere in the city.
Architects say town planning regulations forbid the construction of high-rise buildings on the coast. (Vafa Zeynalova /OC Media)
The lack of job opportunities and development prospects in the rural regions of Azerbaijan has provoked a population influx to the capital, and the rapid growth of Baku’s population has increased the load on the city’s infrastructure. Problems faced by the metropolis and its inhabitants include gas cutoffs, waste management issues, water shortages, and traffic jams. [Read more…]
Screengrab from a video by jailed rights activist and video-blogger Mehman Huseynov (Mehman Huseynov)
Elderly people in Azerbaijan are often seen working well beyond the age of retirement, often in hard physical jobs. The government has tried to celebrate this, claiming that no one wants to retire in Azerbaijan, but others point out that low state pensions give many no other choice. [Read more…]
The rally in Baku (Caucasian Knot)
Several thousand people protested in Baku on 10 March, in a rally organised by Azerbaijan’s two largest opposition groups against President Ilham Aliyev. The groups have announced they plan to boycott the presidential elections scheduled for 11 April. [Read more…]
(Vafa Zeynalova /OC Media)
Baku is the largest and one of the most polluted cities in the South Caucasus. Seven percent of the city’s territory is occupied by dumps. One of the largest rubbish processing plants in Europe has operated in the city for five years, but this has not solved the problem. [Read more…]
(contact.az)
A fire at a drug rehabilitation centre in Baku has left at least 24 people dead and several more injured. Local media quoted Health Ministry officials as saying that three people have been hospitalised, and more than 30 rescued. [Read more…]
Gozal Bayramli (RFE/Rl)
Azerbaijani opposition politician Gozal Bayramli was sentenced to 3 years in prison by an Azerbaijani court on 23 January. Bayramli was detained at the border last May while crossing from Georgia, and charged with attempting to smuggle €12,000 ($13,400) in cash. [Read more…]
Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (OSCE)
The OSCE Media Freedom representative, Harlem Désir, has called on Azerbaijani authorities to end ‘restrictive measures detrimental to journalists’ freedom and safety’. The following day, authorities in Baku arrested another journalist, editor-in-chief of the Khural newspaper, Avaz Zeynalov. [Read more…]
Despite the veneer of patriarchy and the respect for the elderly, the life of old people in Azerbaijan is hard, especially when they are lonely. With an average pension of $100, they can only hope for help from shelters, kind neighbours, and volunteers.
