The situation in Ismailli region remains tense

The situation in Ismailli at 16:30 remains tense. Internal forces and rapid response regiment cleared from protesters the streets surrounding the building of the executive power. According to Turan correspondent from the scene, in the last disperse of the protesters (at about 15:00) were beaten and detained about 10 people. Several police officers were injured by stones thrown in them.

Most of the protesters (up to a thousand people) were dispersed. The police demanded to close all public institutions (shops, cafes, tea, etc.) People are not allowed go to the streets.

Meanwhile, there are reports about the aggravation of the situation in the neighboring areas - Agsu, Gabala and Goychay. According to unofficial data, a group of people gather in front of the executive power in these regions, and express dissatisfaction with the actions of the authorities.

However, this information is not confirmed by official bodies.

The Interior Ministry and the General Prosecutor Office do not comment on the current situation in Ismailli. Thus, the Turan news agency failed to receive answers to the questions: if a lawsuit was filed, how many people have been arrested, the number of sufferers, how Interior Troops have been deployed to the region, why the roads have been blocked, whether there is a state of emergency?

All these and other questions the press service of the two law enforcement agencies do not give the answers or do not want to give answer to these questions. -02В- 

Firing started in Ismaili region

At 14: 45 Internal forces opened fire on protesters. According to local residents, the troops used rubber bullets. In response, the protesters throw stones. There are victims on both sides.

At the time of the collision moved to the  market area, which  is in a few kilometers from the building of  executive power. Internal forces restricted the work of journalists, as well as entering  to the city. -0 –

Internal forces blocked the entrances to Ismayilli

Turan correspondent reported from the district center Ismayilli, where last night was a spontaneous manifestation of the local residents, at 10.00 pm on 24 January the situation was stable. But then, several hundred local residents got together and began to block the building of the executive power, demanding the resignation of the district. Security forces have taken steps to prevent it and crowding protesters.

At 10:30 the police required them to disperse, but people began chanting "Resign!" And people began to throw stones at police.

On the streets there are a few people and the regional center seems a place where the state of emergency exists on the streets patrolled by the rapid response regiment of the Interior Ministry and special forces of other departments, and the technique to disperse the protesters.

Local people continue to argue that the reason for the riots was the incident with the son of the Minister of Labor and Social Security Fizuli Alekperov. Late last night when he departed from the hotel "Chirag", he in his car "Hummer" hit a local taxi driver. Verbal sparring between the drivers turned into a fight with local residents, who came to the aid of the taxi driver. The beaten driver of the "Hammer" was taken to hospital.

However, according to the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office, the accident was made by the drunken owner of the hotel "Chirag" - Emil Shamsaddinov and a local Elmeddin Mamedov, who were detained.

Then began a spontaneous demonstration, which was attended, by various estimates, by 2000 to 4000 people. The demonstrators burned the hotel "Chirag", which belongs to the Alekperov family. They also tried to burn down the house of the Chief Executive Nazim Alekperov, the brother of the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor. But the local old-timers convinced the overheated people not to do this. They burned only the security room of Alekperov’s villa.

During the action, demands were voiced about the resignation of the executive of the area.

The demonstrators dispersed only by three o'clock in the morning. One of the residents told Turan that they will seek the resignation of Nazim Alekperov, who has created a repressive regime. Locals are annoyed by the grip of their arable lands, forests and pastures by oligarch ministers. In the villages there are restrictions on the movement of peasants, they are forbidden to use the forest, and in some villages there have been established posts that check passports for entry and exit.

Ismayilli is a picturesque mountain and foothill zone along the adjacent areas Gabala and Oguz, which also face an aggressive activity of officials and oligarchs, extending their possessions and forcing local residents. In this area, however, as in other regions, social stratification has reached explosive features. Less than a year ago a similar protest took place in the north of Azerbaijan, in the Guba region.

In March, residents also came to demand the resignation of the district head and burned a number of his facilities. The authorities later made arrests of the activists of the rally.

The social tensions have accumulated in Ismayilli for several months, which is proved by the fact that in May last year, a group of residents of the Russian village Ivanovka – a single collective farm named after Nikitin arrived at the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan with a complaint of harassment by the chief executive Nizami Alekperov. He was convicted of extortion and attempt to capture the land. Then the conflict was hushed up, the residents were promised protection, and they do not complain.

The repressive atmosphere in Ismayilli is also shown by the fact that local residents fear to give their names to journalists. Despite this, people say that they will insist on the resignation of the district’s chief. "We are fed up with unemployment, poverty, extortion and an atmosphere of fear," said one resident.

Meanwhile there is an investigation in the area and and important commission has come from Baku.

It is not clear what measures President Ilham Aliyev will take. He is at the Davos economic forum now. Two weeks ago, he cut short his vacation and returned to Baku, where more than a thousand young people held a demonstration on January 12 in the capital to protest against the death of a soldier Gubadov. -0 -