Press Review 06/21/2016

Tolerance in Azerbaijan, the rise in price of school uniforms, two-pronged approach to democracy, the costs and revenues from sports events, inflation and bank deposits.

The official newspaper Azerbaijan writes about tolerance in Azerbaijan, saying that religious tolerance has historically been a model for the world. The Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations Mubariz Gurbanli has published an article about the Azerbaijani model of tolerance. The article refers to the construction of new mosques, churches and synagogues. Mubariz Gurbanli claims that currently the number one task is to ensure the freedom of conscience. He notes the importance of religious education, because it will help the effective fight against religious radicalism. The regulation of relations between state and religion is a strategic objective built on three main factors: religion security, the preservation of the secular state principles, prevention of religious fanaticism and extremism.

Azadlig writes about the increase in the cost of school uniforms. Authorities remain true to our "tradition", spending billions on international competitions and increasing the costs of the population. The author believes that the anti-crisis program of the government will bring the population to collapse.

Echo has published an article entitled Inflation in Azerbaijan Ahead of Deposit Rates. The inflation rate will reach 12.1% by the end of the year. "In the worst scenario, the maximum rate will be 15%. Therefore, interest rates on deposits do not cover the level of inflation. What do the banks rely on? How do they plan to restore confidence in banks, even if the interest rates on deposits do not compensate for the loss from inflation?

The expert on bank loans, lawyer Akram Hasanov says the banking system of Azerbaijan is heading nowhere, so it is necessary to take urgent measures. "Yes, inflation really overtakes deposit rates in Azerbaijan. What do the commercial banks of Azerbaijan rely on? They no longer think strategically and live for today, just to survive. As a result, the volume of deposits has been steadily decreasing every month," he said.

Despite the fact that the future of the banking system is under the greatest threat, there is no particular program to save the financial structure yet. Meanwhile the country's banking system is slowly heading nowhere.

Novoye Vremya reports a dual approach to issues on Azerbaijan in an article entitled Democracy Does Not Tolerate Selectivity. CoE Secretary General Jagland says some of the prisoners in Azerbaijan were released for health reasons and for some others the punishment was changed to conditional: "Due to the fact that they have not been justified, it is unclear whether they will be able to function normally in their original locations. For example, as I know, the human rights defender Intigam Aliyev's office is closed. However, the main task for us is to release Ilgar Mammadov. It is for him that the ECHR issued a decision on Article 18. This decision was made 2 years ago, but he continues to be in prison."

On the one hand, we can only welcome this concern of Mr. Jagland with the arrested human rights defenders, journalists and politicians. However, on the other hand, to claim that the main task for the Council of Europe is the release of Ilgar Mammadov is not very correct. For the Council of Europe there should be a priority to release all wrongfully convicted people and not one person specifically, even though he cooperated with the European institutions. The priority for the European institutions should be the protection of human rights in all areas, no matter what countries have these rights violated.

Bizim Yol brings the opinion of the expert Nemat Aliyev about the costs for carrying out the competition Formula-1. According to various estimates, about 350 million USD was spent. European states earn millions at such competitions. We can claim with all responsibility that Azerbaijan did not earn anything from this race and this is despite the current difficult economic and financial situation.