Your trusted source

The Washington Post published today a letter by Assistant Professor of Middle East History at St. Lawrence University, Howard Eissenstat, in which he expressed his surprise at an article titled “Azerbaijan relishes role as the anti-Iran” that was published in the newspaper on October 15.

“Freedom House has rated Azerbaijan as one of the 18 worst countries in the world for freedom of speech and one of the 10 worst for jailing reporters and opposition politicians. As Transparency International has noted, its oil-driven kleptocracy is one of the most corrupt in the world. Your article highlights performances in Azerbaijan by stars such as Jennifer Lopez; it might have also been worthwhile to note that Amnesty International (for which I serve as a specialist on Turkey) has publicly pleaded with performers such as Rihanna and Shakira to reconsider their concerts in that country in light of its sorry record of human rights abuses. But we should all be horrified by Azerbaijan’s shoddy treatment of its own citizens,” the letter said.