Weekly political digest (17.08- 22.08.2009)

Official chronicle

On August 17, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an executive order endorsing the state program on establishment and development of the space industry in Azerbaijan.

Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies is in charge of coordinating activities under the order.

The activities under the Presidential order will be implemented at the expense of Public budget and other funding sources stipulated in the law.

The Cabinet of Ministers is in charge of resolving the issue arising from the order.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed his condolences to Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jabir Al-Sabah, in connection with numerous victims in a fire at a wedding party.

"In connection with this tragedy, on my own behalf and on behalf of Azeri people, I express condolences to you, friends and relatives of the victims and to all the people of Kuwait," the letter by Head of State said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed his condolences to his Russian counterpart, Dmitriy Medvedyev, over numerous human casualties caused by terrorist attack on Nazran.

The Head of State on his own behalf and on behalf of the Azerbaijani people offered his deep condolences to friends and family of the dead and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated leader of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, on the national holiday - Independence Day.

In his congratulatory letter to the Head of State, Aliyev expressed his confidence that joint efforts to preserve and strengthen the friendship between the two countries and expand ties in all spheres will continue.

Aliyev wished Karzai good health and success, and the friendly Afghan people - peace and prosperity.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated his Hungarian counterpart, László Sólyom on national holiday - Saint Stephen Day.

"I congratulate by heart you and your people on the occasion of the Hungarian national holiday - Saint Stephen Day on my own behalf and on behalf of the Azerbaijani people," Aliyev said.

In the message, the President expressed his satisfaction at present development of the Azerbaijan-Hungary relationship.

President Ilham Aliyev also expressed confidence the two nations would continue efforts to develop the friendly relations and successfully continue bilateral cooperation within European organizations.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev endorsed the plan of action on preserving monuments and memorial and architectural complexes in the territory of republic.

The Cabinet is assigned to take certain measures to solve the questions resulting from the Executive Order.

The action plan envisages creating a registry of monumental sculptural monuments, memorial and architectural complexes, located in Azerbaijan and of artistic value, creating a commission of experts on the destruction and dismantlement, identifying sites and facilities and submitting proposals on this issue, as well as conducting work on improvement. Moreover, the action plan involves devising designs and design papers to create the estimated architectural monuments, memorial complex, and others.

The action plan of 2009-2010, is vested in the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Committee on Town Building and Architecture, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku City Administration and other bodies

On August 20, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to the President of South Korea Lee Myung Bak in connection with the death of ex-President of the Republic of Korea, a prominent state and public-political figure, Kim De Jun.

"In connection with this heavy loss, I offer my deepest condolences on my own behalf and on behalf of the Azeri people to You, the family of late and all Your people," says the letter by Head of State.

Azerbaijan's First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva has become a nominee for honorary title 'The Great Woman of 21st Century'. This important title has already been awarded to a number of prominent women such as Queen of England Elizabeth II, the current United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mother Teresa who won fame worldwide for good deeds. First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyev was nominated for this international title most recently, that is, in late July, AzerTAj state news agency reported.

Art Director of International Niagara Festival and Professor of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto Atis Bankas, Professor of the Moscow Conservatory and co-chair of Silk Way Niagara Festival Nina Kogan, chief conductor of the chamber orchestra Silk Way and chairman of the committee Silk Way Ismail Hajiyev and Chief Manager of the International Niagara Festival Virginia Mainprice appealed to the President of the American Biographical Institute Mr. Evans with this request. All of them are members of the Canada-based International Center of Universal Human Values named after Azerbaijani scholar and orientalist Aida Imanguliyeva.

To ground their nomination, the authors of appeal to the American Biographical Institute presented broad activities by Mrs. Aliyeva aimed at developing cultural wealth of her country, as well as bringing closer cultures of East and West and promoting spiritual and creative integration. Charitable foundation 'Friends of Azerbaijani Culture' established by Mrs. Aliyeva targets these goals by organizing festivals, exhibitions, concerts and other events related to culture. First Lady has proposed to establish the Mugam Center. Mugam is a traditional classical form of Azerbaijani folk music.

Tremendous work is done in the fields of education, health and sports at the initiative of Mrs. Mehriban.

President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation pays a special attention to children and their problems. The Foundations's charity program includes reconstruction and modernization of orphanages in Azerbaijan, opening schools, providing treatment to children suffering from diabetes and other serious diseases. Special care is taken for the old people's homes on the most advanced medical level.

The message emphasizes activities of the Azerbaijani First Lady at the international level: "Mrs. Aliyeva was the initiator of the Days of Azerbaijani mugam in Niagara, which became an exciting event in the cultural life of North America, as well as the creation of the organizational structure of the festival committee Niagara Silk Road." Regarding Mrs. Aliyeva's role in promoting music and culture of all countries, located on the ancient Silk Road, she was awarded the highest award of Niagara festival "Rose of Peace", an ancient symbol of man, holding the noble mission for the convergence and integration of world cultures and civilizations ..."

Further, the message addressed to the President of the American Biographical Institute mentions concrete facts being evidence of the participation of the UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mehriban Aliyeva, in the preservation of world heritage. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation headed by Mrs. Aliyeva has allocated funds for the reconstruction of the individual and very valuable fragments of the Strasbourg Cathedral in France, the Catholic Church of St. Mary in Baku, which was done under the Memorandum signed between the Foundation and the Catholic community in Rome. The Foundation finances the reconstruction of religious monuments across the country under the "Azerbaijan - the Address of Tolerance" project.

Those who appealed to the American Biographical Institute to award the honorary title to the First Lady also include Lord Geri Borrou, Mayor of the City of Niagara, where bust of Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev was built in a gallery last year and which served as cultural bridge between Canada and Azerbaijan.

Indefatigable work of this truly great woman is worthy of world recognition!

On August 21, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order to award a group of servicemen of the Special State Protection Service of Azerbaijan Republic on the occasion of their professional holiday. For distinction in service, the servicemen received medals "For Military Service", "For Homeland" and "For Bravery".

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev congratulated his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko on the Independence Day.

In the message, Aliyev mentioned successful development of the Azerbaijani-Ukrainian friendly relations and cooperation. The president stated that useful cooperation in the international and regional structures raised the level of relations to strategic.

President Ilham Aliyev also expressed confidence that the two nations would continue efforts for comprehensive development of relations and deepening of constructive cooperation.

The head of Azerbaijan wished Yushchenko good health and success, the friendly Ukrainian people - peace and prosperity.

Parliament

It is necessary to encourage organizations to allocate funds to science, a member of the Committee for Science and Education in the Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani Parliament) said.

"If we consider general world practice, we see that huge funds are allocated to the sciences. Private companies actively invest. The financial issue is reflected in the 'Science' law, i.e, the state allocates funds to science and encourages other organizations to make investments in this sphere," the MP and member of the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Education, Asef Hajiyev, said in an interview for Yeni Azerbaijan ruling party's official website on August 19.

He said that the law 'Science' will be discussed during the autumn session of

Parliament. "There are some articles in the law which specialists from the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences and other institutions in the workshop are working on.

There is a need to rework the law since Azerbaijan joined the Bologna education system. But on the other hand, the issue has become urgent in connection with the rate of scientific development and progress," Hajiyev said.

The MP said that there is an important clause in the 'Science' law concerning grants and outlining the grant system and distribution," Hajiyev said.

Foreign policy

Several months ago Georgia applied to CIS member countries through the CIS Secretariat to preserve its participation in several multilateral agreements, especially with Azerbaijan, the spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Elkhan Polukhov, told Trend on August 18.

He said that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had received Georgia's proposals and they were forwarded to the corresponding state agencies. "Georgia will be informed as soon as we receive any answers," Polukhov said.

He said that there are both bilateral and multilateral agreements between Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The official procedure of Georgia's leaving CIS membership will be completed on August 18, the Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister, David Jalagania, said a briefing on August 17.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry informed the CIS about the parliamentary decision to leave the organization by sending an official diplomatic note on August 18, 2008. Georgia's formal leaving-taking from the organization lasts 12 months according to the CIS charter. Therefore, the official procedure will be completed on August 19.

Political movements

The Azerbaijani opposition civil movement for Karabakh and the republic founded a working group.

The working group was established to develop proposals in connection with amendments to the Electoral Code and the law on municipalities, the Musavat party told Trend .

The decision on representation of the party's member, Gulaga Aslanly, in the working group was made at the meeting of Musavat.

The meeting also focused on issues regarding the negotiations on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, socio-political situation in the country and others.

The Left Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (LDPA) and the People's Socialist Party (PSP) intend to combine prior to the municipal elections.

"The negotiations on the unification of the parties are continuing. There is a strong probability that before the municipal elections, a political decision will be made to merge the two parties," LDPA chairman Elshan Manafov told Trend on August 17.

He said that there is great need for coordination in the activities of the left parties. "In Azerbaijan there is a need for coordination and direction of forces of all active parties in the country in one track. Activities of the social parties under the same name could expand both the financial opportunities and political resources. Activities in a fragmented manner does not bring political dividends to any of the parties. In Azerbaijan, the possibility of the pressure of political opposition on the political process is almost zero," said Manafov.

In April, PSP and Progressive Socialist Party of Azerbaijan (PSPA) united. After this, PSPA chairman Rustam Shahsuvarov became PSP deputy chairman on public relations. People's Socialist Party of Azerbaijan was established in October 2008. Its chairman is Rovshan Huseynov.

According to Manafov, unlike the party, led by PSP, they held a constituent assembly and submitted some documents to the Ministry of Justice. "Currently they are a step away from receiving registration. If the question of registration will be completed successfully, of course, talks on unification would continue. The leadership of both parties must organize a serious debate on the issue of what position they will occupy after the unification," said Manafov.

The governing New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) does not see any rivals in the upcoming municipal elections.

"The party is seriously preparing for municipal elections and does not see a danger of parties who intend to participate in the election because the number of the NAP members has reached almost a half million. Even if the members of existing political parties are joined, their number could comprise some percentage of the NAP members," NAP Deputy Chairman, Executive Secretary Ali Ahmadov told the parties' official Web site.

Azerbaijan will hold the municipal elections in December this year.

The ruling party is very different from other political parties in terms of public influence and impact on the processes, Ahmadov believes. "The NAP wants the election to take place under a competition. Participation in elections is the main focus of each party. If any party does not join the election, it calls its existence into question," the deputy chairman said.

Participation in municipal elections is a factor, confirming the extent to which political party is supported by the public, he said. "The municipal elections also show what possibilities and supports a political party has. If any party does not participate in elections, it means that they do not have public support. I think that authoritative political parties will make the right decision and will participate in municipal elections," Ahmadov said.

The Platform of World Turkish Young Political Leaders will be established at the Union of World Turkic Youth.

Ramil Hasanov, the chairman of the youth organization of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) came out with the relevant initiative at the 13th conference of the Union, NAP website reported.

The 13th conference of the Union of World TurkicYouth was held in Yalta on Aug. 8-15. As many as 300 delegates from 30 countries and autonomous establishments attended the event to discuss the role of youth in proximity of the Turkic nations.

The platform targets paying young political leaders' contribution in unification of the Turkic nations. The first meeting of the Platform of World Turkish Young Political Leaders is scheduled for December, 2009.

The Azerbaijani Green Party has launched meetings with political parties for the municipal elections.

"Talks will be held with the Umid Party soon. Discussions with 20 parties we have applied to will be completed by September 15. Other political parties are likely to unite for the municipal elections," the Chairman of Green Party, Mais Gulaliyev, told Trend .

Municipal elections in Azerbaijan are scheduled for December 2009. The Azerbaijani Green Party has applied to 20 parties to consider joint participation in the process. The party was founded in 2006 but it can not participate in elections independently as it does not have state registration.

Gulaliyev said that municipal elections require 20,000 people joining in the process. "We are not able to nominate candidates in all municipalities considering that our party has been founded only recently. According to our plan, we intend to participate in elections with about 150-200 candidates. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a bloc with other parties," he said.

Serious disputes between opposition parties and the Green Party will create obstacles in establishing the bloc. "There are serious disputes on different issues, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and public-political processes. Despite this, it is likely that we are one of the few parties that are always ready to cooperate," Gulaliyev said.

The Chairman of the Party said that Green ideology in Azerbaijan is poorly developed. "The positions of all parties are rather precarious, though they do not admit this. Besides this, we openly demonstrate our strength and value its validity," he said.

The ruling New Azerbaijan Party does not see any need in injecting serious amendments to the Azerbaijani Election Code.

The current Election Code enables the country to hold free, fair and transparent elections. Election Code has been tested and acquitted itself. International organizations also appraised the Code, Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the New Azerbaijan party, Ali Ahmedov, told in an interview to the official website of the party on aug.20.

There are intentions to amend the Election Code in connection with municipal elections. However, it is impossible due to lack of time, Ahmedov added.

Regarding the proposals on defining the legal status of municipalities, Ahmedov said that sometimes the need arises. "The country adopted the law on unification of municipalities and I believe that the process will continue in the future," Ahmedov added.

The Azerbaijani opposition Civil Movement for Karabakh and Republic could not determine the form of participation in the municipal elections.

The last meeting of the movement mulled several forms of participation. More detailed discussions will be held at the next meeting. There is a need to estimate issues that the party will discuss, Chairman of the Citizens and Development Party represented in the movement, Ali Aliyev told Trend on Aug.20.

The Civil Movement for Karabakh and Republic was established on the eve of referendum dated March 18. The parties, including Popular Front of Azerbaijan, Citizens and Development, Liberal, Democratic, Musavat and Umid, as well as a number of public organizations are represented in the Civil Movement for Karabakh and Republic.

In Azerbaijan, the municipal elections are scheduled for December, 2009.

According to Aliyev, the Movement will shape general position on the issues under discussion as soon as internal discussions are over.

The movement plans to develop a number of legislations before the autumn session of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

The movement held a meeting with the representatives of the established working group to develop legislations. The Working Group was tasked to work over the Election Code, bills on freedom of assembly, on the status of municipalities and on political parties, Aliyev added.

On Aug.22, the Azerbaijani opposition parties visited the grave of the Azerbaijani ex-president, Abulfaz Elchibay, in connection with the anniversary of his death.

The representatives of the parties Musavat, Classic Popular Front party, Nation party and the parties, which are represented in Azadlig bloc, including Popular Front party, Citizen and Development party and Liberal party took part in the arrangement.

Today, nine years passes from the death of Abulfaz Elchibay, Azerbaijani ex-president, leader of the national independence movement.

During his presidency the Soviet armies were withdrawn from the country, the Azerbaijani national currency was put into circulation and test method was applied to the entrance exams to universities.

The Azerbaijani People's Socialist Party (APSP) proposes to adjust rates in private health and educational institutions.

Tariffs and prices in private health and educational institutions are excessively high. The owners and management of the agencies declare and exaggerate them in random order. These indexes were changed frequently and groundlessly, the APSP said.

Party announces that citizens, particularly the poor and middle class, are dissatisfied with the decisions of private health care and educational institutions to raise prices and tariffs. The issue on artificial increase in private health and educational institutions in prices and tariffs should be adjusted by the state. Economically and financially justified highest limit should be applied to the index. This justified limit should be applied to all types of services provided by these institutions, the party said.

Proposals forwarded by parties to amend and supplement to the Azerbaijani Election Code represented in the Civil Movement for Karabakh and Republic will be developed in a single document.

"We agreed to prepare a document which will reflect parties' all proposals on amendments and supplements they want to apply to the Azerbaijani Electoral Code, Representative of the Musavat party in a working group of the Civic Movement for Karabakh and Republic, Gulaga Aslanli told Trend .

The ruling New Azerbaijan Party does not see any need in injecting serious amendments to the Azerbaijani Election Code.

In Azerbaijan, the municipal elections are scheduled for December, 2009.

"Aslanli was tasked to develop a bill. Proposals of Musavat will be compared with other documents developed together with other opposition forces on the basis of amendments and supplements, which was submitted to the Azerbaijani parliament in 2008. We will introduce this document reflecting proposals of common position in the next meeting of the working group," Aslanli added.

"The document will be developed until the autumn session of the Parliament. Then we will develop proposals on amendments and supplements to the law on status of municipalities," Aslanli said.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

On August 16, the Armenian Armed Forces opened fire at Azerbaijani troops. The shots were fired from the Kuropatkino village of the Hojavand region at 10.40-10.45 and 06.10-06.15 and the Yusifcanli village of the Agdam region at 07.00-07.10.

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that the Armenian soldiers fired at Azerbaijani troops from the Yusifcanli village of the Agdam region at 07.00-07.10.