The Guardian: Poor and isolated rural areas come into sharp contrast with Baku embellished ahead of Euro-Games
Azerbaijan’s government wants to boost its reputation with the European Games, but they must not be allowed to lend credibility to an administration which has no regard for free speech, Idrak Abbasov, Azerbaijani journalist, writes for The Guardian.
“This week, my country, Azerbaijan, plays host to the biggest international event it has staged to date: the European Games. More will follow. Azerbaijan is scheduled to host the European Grand Prix in 2016, and two matches in the 2020 European Football Championship. These are the kind of big occasions any journalist would like to be part of. Unfortunately, I am unlikely to be able to cover any of these events. My own efforts to practise journalism in Azerbaijan have left me beaten, bruised, and eventually exiled,” writes Abbasov who spent most of his professional life reporting on human rights abuses and corruption in Azerbaijan.
With the Games, the European Olympic Committees have lent credibility to a corrupt regime that regards anyone who practices the rights of free speech and free assembly as an enemy to be crushed, Abbasov points.
In another publication, The Guardian writes that British Petroleum, the “official oil and gas partner” to the European Games, is as aware as anyone of the poor public image of the regime in Azerbaijan. The former Soviet republic holds a lot of oil and gas but equally is a place where BP has freedom to undertake projects that might be much more difficult to do elsewhere.
In a new book, All that glitters: Sport, BP and Repression in Azerbaijan, the authors, Emma Hughes and James Marriott point that after a drilling accident in the Caspian the company can maintain the support of the president. “Keeping Ilham Aliyev happy provides BP with a stable partner that is willing to prioritise fossil fuel extraction over any environmental considerations, social concerns or democratic mandates,” claims Hughes, who was refused entry to Baku earlier this week.
The Guardian has also posted the shots photographer Tomer Ifrah captured during his journey through Azerbaijan. They show that while £6.5bn (about $10 bn) is said to have been spent transforming the capital city for the European Games, rural villages remain steeped in ancient Azerbaijani tradition.
The photographer’s journey through Azerbaijan began in 2013: “We started with a few days in the capital city Baku, located on the oil-rich Caspian Sea. But the cosmopolitan city is a far cry from its countryside landscape, home to many isolated rural communities,” Ifrah recalls.
On their way to the Caucasian mountains they passed through the city of Quba and arrived in Khinalig which is home to about 2,000 people: ‘Being so remote the people depend almost entirely on themselves for their livelihoods,’ Ifrah says.
What the photographer saw in Azerbaijan confounded his expectations, especially in the rural areas of the country. People live in poverty, and follow ancient traditions, he says. It is a stark contrast to the capital, where the authoritarian president Ilham Alyev is said to have invested a total of £6.5bn in sports venues and infrastructure.
Ifrah points that Azerbaijan is still forming a new and independent national identity. “But as the government constructs an elaborate and glittering facade for international visitors, the detention and imprisonment of human rights activists and journalists paints a very different portrait of the country,” he stresses.
Related:
British journalist is deported from Baku and Amnesty International is denied entry to Azerbaijan
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