Press Review 02/23/2016

Azadlig: The Chairman of the National Council of the opposition Jamil Hasanli criticizes the authorities for the construction of fences along main routes of Baku-Gazakh and Baku-Astara. “If not for the crisis, then along all the roads in the country they would have built fences. This is a write-off of huge amounts of money, not care about people. With this way of thinking it will be difficult to find a way out of the crisis," says Hasanli.

Echo reports that Azerbaijan has increased its military imports by 217% and is the major importer of Russian weapons in Europe.

Azerbaijan buys anti-aircraft missile systems Favorite, anti-aircraft Tornados, and attack helicopters Mi-35M. Apart from Russia, Azerbaijan cooperates in this area with Israel, Pakistan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Novoye Vremya publishes an article with a speech criticizing the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta. According to the author, Azerbaijan does not see any support from the United States for stability and prosperity. With regard to the security of transport and energy corridor, the White House is interested in this matter not less than Azerbaijan, the author believes.

The Karabakh conflict unresolved for nearly 30 years does not fit into the framework of the strategic partnership between the US and Azerbaijan, the author of the article says.

Yeni Musavat issues an article by the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta, which notes that there are three important areas of cooperation in the US-Azerbaijan relations: security, democracy and economy (energy). The Ambassador says that all the three areas are closely interrelated, and none of them prevails. The US always supports sustainable stability and prosperity.

Bizim Yol with reference to experts claims that Azerbaijan should expect the third devaluation. Experts believe that even from last year, the authorities very little involved anti-crisis measures. The expert Natig Jafarli says that revenues have fallen, but requirements have not.

The number of problem loans has increased, but the situation has not improved after the devaluation. No economic reforms are implemented. To exit from the situation, Natig Jafarli offers to attract investment, and this requires the presence of an independent judiciary. The current crisis, the expert says, is not only financial. This is a systemic crisis that requires general political and economic reforms. For this reason there cannot be "cosmetic" measures.