(report.az)
Azerbaijan is to increase the minimum monthly wage from ₼180 ($110) to ₼250 ($150) as of 1 September. [Read more…]
Azerbaijan increases minimum wage
Activists occupy ‘historic’ building in Baku to prevent demolition
The building is a former Molokan church (Leyli Gafarova)
Around 200 people have occupied a building in Baku’s Nasimi District to prevent it from being demolished. Activists say they will not leave the former Molokan church and site of Azerbaijan’s first radio station until it is included in the Ministry of Culture’s list of protected historic buildings. [Read more…]
Armenia hopes for Nagorno-Karabakh’s return to the negotiating table
Ilham Aliyev (left) with Nikol Pashinyan at World Economic Forum in Davos, January 2019. (Still from official video)
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet officially this Friday. In Armenia, talk of progress in the peace process has largely focused on the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh in future negotiations. [Read more…]
Proposals to include Nagorno-Karabakh in peace talks raise red flags in Azerbaijan
Nikol Pashinyan (left) and Ilham Aliyev on an informal meeting in Davost at World Economic Forum in January. (primeminister.am)
Ahead of a meeting between the Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev this Friday, Azerbaijani analysts and politicians share their hopes and concerns over the rekindled dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Aliyev frees 52 ‘political prisoners’ as part of Novruz amnesty
Youth activist Giyas Ibrahimov, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016, addresses supporters upon being released. (Turan Information Agency)
Almost 400 prisoners have been released in Azerbaijan after President Ilham Aliyev issued an amnesty to mark the Novruz holiday. Fifty-two of those receiving pardons are widely considered by rights groups and international organisations to be political prisoners. [Read more…]
‘The appearance of change’ — Azerbaijanis question if the government is opening up
President Ilham Aliyev on a meeting with martyrs’ families. (Official photo)
The Azerbaijani government has reacted swiftly in recent months to complaints in the media and online. While many speculate this may be a sign of a more open government in the country, others point to external factors and say they have seen it all before. [Read more…]
Opinion | A plea, a protest, and a good president: cosmetic changes in a cosmetic country
Arzu Geybulla is a freelance writer originally from Azerbaijan, currently based in Istanbul.
After protests and pleas from the families of those killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agreed to pay them the compensation they had been promised. But this U-turn by the government and other small public concessions are only cosmetic changes to a country filled with injustice. [Read more…]
Interview | De Waal: ‘Is it time to come up with a bigger offer to Abkhazia?’
Thomas de Waal is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, a London-based think tank.
Thomas de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and a prolific writer on the South Caucasus recently sat down with OC Media. He discussed democracy in Abkhazia and the international community’s role there, and the recent thaw in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Charges dropped against Huseynov after thousands rally in Baku
(Meydan TV)
The Azerbaijani authorities have dropped new charges against imprisoned anti-corruption blogger Mehman Huseynov following large protests in the capital. Thousands gathered in Baku on Saturday calling for Huseynov’s release and an end to political prosecutions and corruption in the country.
Taxes, corruption, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Turkey: Pashinyan’s vision for the ‘New Armenia’
Having swept to power in a landslide electoral victory, the new government of revolutionary leader Nikol Pashinyan is now laying out its vision for a ‘New Armenia’ — with ambitious plans for peace and reform.
