Your trusted source

The Azerbaijani authorities politicized the European Games in Baku exactly the same way as they did with Eurovision in 2012. Instead of the flow of the European tourists, lonely double-deckers drove around the city, and the hotel rooms prepared for the occasion remained empty, Meydan TV website writes.

The situation repeats itself, but now the authorities’ reputation suffers more with the citizens and the whole country suffering with them. “Unlike the abundance of the oil-dollars of the 2012, the current sporting events are happening in the face of drop in oil prices, crisis in the banking sector, devaluation of national currency, fire which took the lives of people because of corruption, arrests of businessmen from influential circles, increasing discontent of the population and even a revolt inside the Foreign Ministry of the country,” Meydan TV writes and highlights that the ordinary Azerbaijanis are who have to ‘pay all this off.’

According to RFE/RL’s Kazakh service, some civil servants say they have to take part in paying off for the expensive (about $10bn) games. A doctor from the town Mingachevir said he and fellow doctors at his hospital were forced to contribute between 100 and 500 manats ($105-$524) apiece. “Each department is required to donate at least 2,000 to 5,000 manats ($2,100-$5,240)," said the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Therefore, senior doctors have to collect money from other staff [and] there are rumors that whoever does not contribute money [for the European Games] will be fired.”

“My doctor told me I will not receive my free medicine for two months until the European Games are finished,” a Baku resident told RFE/RL. The patient, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, normally gets four injections per month to treat the disease, with each injection costing some 400 manats ($381). Another person, who is receiving chemotherapy, told RFE/RL that she would only receive about one-third of her state-paid medicine until the European Games are finished.

The cuts also told on the civil servants who ceased to get bonus payments. They were officially told that the bonus cut happened due to the games and will be resumed after the games are finished. Azerbaijan won the right to hold the games based partially on a generous promise to pay the airfare of the thousands of athletes, trainers, and coaches who have come to Baku to compete in more than 250 events from June 12-28. The authorities made the same lavish gesture back in 2012 while hosting Eurovision Song Contest in Baku. Critics say that rather than working to improve its rights record to bolster its image, Azerbaijani officials have focused on sprucing up Baku’s visual appearance to put the city’s best foot forward. The effort has drawn scorn from some Baku residents who are unimpressed by the cosmetic improvements.

“I will not see the games. I don’t know what the weather is like or how bad the Baku traffic is. I have access to very little information of any kind. I am sitting in my cell in the Kurdakhani prison — my home for the past six months. I am a journalist, in jail for my work exposing corruption at the highest levels of the Azerbaijani government. I have been targeted, along with dozens of other political prisoners — fellow journalists, human rights defenders, youth activists, politicians and others — for telling the truth about the situation in my country. Azerbaijan’s best and brightest have been locked up, tucked away for the European Games. They didn’t want you to see or hear us and our inconvenient truths,'' The New York Times cites Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova's open letter.

In an editorial, The Times writes that the key to understanding Azerbaijan's ambitions is the name of the sport event – European Games. President Aliyev treats its critics almost Soviet-like, and Amnesty International calls his regime ''one of the most repressive ones in Europe.'' The elections in Azerbaijan do not meet the international standards and corruption flourishes in the country with courts lacking independence.

Azerbaijan should invest money in transport and infrastructure rather than sport competitions. Half of the roads in the country have not been paved so far. Moreover, the country cannot claim to be called a European state if it violates the human rights, The Times writes.

Vincenzo Capodici, columnist of the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger, writes that the European Games 2015's sporting value is not high. Although 6,000 athletes will compete for medals in more than 20 sports, the most renowned European sportsmen – especially of athletics and swimming – will not participate in the competitions.

''When the European Olympic Committees were looking for aspirants to host the first European Games, only one state came up – Azerbaijan,'' Capodici reminds.

Besides, the Azerbaijani authorities want to see exclusively positive coverage of the event and the country, and that is why the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has already informed the representatives of mass media that the unacceptable behavior would be punished. ''The accreditation will be cancelled should the representative violate the rules of accreditation, working against Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, independence, interests and sovereignty,'' it said.

The 68,700-seat Baku Olympic Stadium cost some $482 million. Initially the project was assessed at $300 million. However, the construction expenses sharply grew later first of all because of the necessity to pump out the sewage water that had gathered in the area. Another conflict unfolded around the lands and demolition of the houses that stood in the place of the stadium and around it. For a long time the authorities did not reveal any information to the locals whether their houses would be pulled down and what compensations they would be paid in case they are deprived of home, RFE/RL writes.

The journalist Natiq Jafarli says the authorities will hardly allow any opposition or human rights protest to take place during the European Games as Baku has actually become a closed city. The police work is strengthened, the roads are closed everywhere, and there is no way to move. ''Parking around cafes, restaurants and hotels is not allowed. The roads are closed everywhere. This creates a big discomfort for the people. Cars from the districts of the country are not allowed to enter Baku, the farms cannot supply their products. That is why it raises anger, it raises inner protest among the population of the country,'' the expert said.

He added that $630 million was spent only on the Olympic stadium and a small country like Azerbaijan needs centuries to pay off the money invested in it.

The German newspaper Die Welt writes that the participating sportsmen may become instruments in the hands of the authoritarian regime. Deutschlandradio reminds that 270 athletes will represent Germany at the Games. Many German journalists also were invited to cover the European Games in Baku. Silvia Stöber, a reporter for Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Tagesschau.de, says she will never accept the Azerbaijani authorities' invitation and recommends her fellows to do the same.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reminds that several members from the Parliamentary group Germany - South Caucasus visited Baku in May. The president met them; still the German parliamentarians did not use the opportunity to voice the human rights issue in Azerbaijan. Tabea Rößner from the Green party says they failed to touch thorny questions during the meeting with the president because they had earlier been warned that it was not allowed to irritate the president Aliyev. They were not allowed to meet the civil society representatives either, but they managed to speak with the activists with the help of the German ambassador to Baku.