Azerbaijani Opposition Seeks To Avert 'Egyptian Scenario'

[Joanne98]

Source: Radio Free Europe

The opposition Civic Movement for Democracy -- Public Chamber (GDDOP), established in late December, has urged new parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan "in order to prevent the situation in the country from developing in line with the Tunisian and Egyptian scenarios." A senior member of the presidential administration argued last week, however, that it is the opposition which is seeking to bring about a repetition in Azerbaijan of the events that precipitated the overthrow of the Tunisian leadership.

The GDDOP, which has 195 members and claims to unite all leading Azerbaijani opposition forces, held its first plenary session on January 29 at the Baku headquarters of the opposition Musavat Party.

One of the Movement's founding members, Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AHCP) Chairman Ali Kerimli, defined the primary objective as "the consolidation of all political forces and civil society in order to bring about democratic changes."

A second founding member, Musavat party chairman Isa Gambar, similarly affirmed that the GDDOP's message to authorities and the Azerbaijani population is that political change and democratization are essential but cannot take place under the present leadership.



Read more: http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan_egypt/2292790.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. With the help of the US

their last elections were completely bent to the extent that they were even allowed to kick out the independent election observers.

In Azerbaijan its all about oil , gas and the BP pipeline across to Turkey - so what's new. :sarcasm:

[social_critic]

2. Dipsy, don't over simplify it - it's about the Great Game

Azerbaijan was mostly about oil when it was thought it had huge oil reserves. But as it turned out the oil wasn't there, and a lot of it is being produced right now - the country's oil production is scheduled to start a steep decline soon.

Azerbaijan does have a lot of untapped natural gas, but today natural gas is plentiful, and there's a race in Europe to develop indigenous gas reserves from shale. US shale production has displaced LNG towards Europe, and therefore prices are soft.

Azerbaijan can also serve as a transit point for oil from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, but that's not going to happen until the BTC line has the ullage to move non Azeri oil in large quantities.

Today, the Azerbaijan play is more about keeping a client state embedded deep into Central Asia - it's meant to provide freedom of movement if there's a conflict with Russia, Iran, or China. I see this theme repeated a lot by many of you, you think it's about oil all the time. But Azerbaijan's oil is now a minor player in the market, and the country itself, its territory, are more important to US imperialists playing the Great Game.

[mikelgb]

3. Foreign types with the hookah pipes say:

Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian