Press Review - 25/06/16

Official newspapers focus on June 26, the Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. They publish articles about the success of military construction. In addition, they print the text of the President’s orders on conferring supreme military ranks and state awards to a group of servicemen.

Azadlig: Verbal sparring took place in the Parliament between the Speaker Ogtay Asadov and MP Zahid Oruj. During the discussion of amendments to the Tax Code Oruj said about the irrelevance of the introduction of the Tax Free system releasing foreigners from VAT, while the UK comes out of the EU. The Speaker reprimanded him and wanted him to speak on the subject. After a verbal altercation the Speaker instructed the disciplinary committee to investigate the behavior of Oruj.

The economist Gubad Ibadoglu said that as a result of falls in global stock markets due to Brexit the assets of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan fell by 427 million USD.

Yeni Musavat: The analyst Shahin Jafarli believes the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel is in the interests of Azerbaijan. The deepening of the confrontation between them would form a negative opinion about Israel in Azerbaijan, which would adversely affect the bilateral cooperation.

The political scientist Habil Huseynli says that after Brexit the value of such countries as Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan will increase. In his view, the potential of Azerbaijan allows it to qualify for EU membership some time later.

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan says Brexit would not affect the exchange rate of AZN. The exchange rate is determined by supply and demand in the local market, says CBA.

Novoye Vremya calls into question the meaning of deepening the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU after Brexit. Why should Azerbaijan participate in the Eastern Partnership or conclude a strategic agreement with the EU?

In the article under the title Books without Reforms the newspaper ironically talks about the donation of books of 20 titles to the Azerbaijan Academy of Justice by the Council of Europe, while even the European Court of Human Rights shows a selective approach to complaints from Azerbaijan.

Express raises the issue of suicide. There are five suicides per 100,000 people in Azerbaijan. The suicides are mostly boys.

The surgeon amputated a healthy leg of an 82-year-old woman in the Republican Microsurgery Center. Instead of amputating a leg affected by gangrene, the surgeon Valeh Kerimov amputated the other leg. According to him, gangrene started on both legs, so both of them had to be amputated. The doctor also said both legs were tied, and he could not distinguish which of them was in a critical condition. The fact is under investigation. -0-