Press Review for 27/05/2016

The focus of today's newspapers is taking care of internally displaced persons, the announcement of Ilham Aliyev Person of the Year, the links between NATO and Azerbaijan, the alleged amendments to the law on political parties, and the loan availability problem.

Azerbaijan calls President Ilham Aliyev "great guardian of refugees and internally displaced persons." In particular, it points to the construction of 94 settlements for internally displaced persons, on which 6 billion AZN was spent.

Azadlig, due to the fact that the publication of The Business Year announced Ilham Aliyev Person of the Year, is trying to figure out the geography and circulation of this magazine, but to no avail. Nor is it clear who its founder is.

At the same time, it is known that the magazine previously collaborated with odious regimes of Ecuador, Colombia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kazakhstan.

The publication has also been observed in Panama, where offshore companies have recently been disclosed, including those related to the family of the President of Azerbaijan.

The fact that the Azerbaijani authorities use the services of such publications in order to maintain their rating is evidence of the lack of their self-confidence. Losing credibility, the government is forced to resort to such frivolous publications, according to the material.

Novoye Vremya writes on the strengthening of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States, commenting on the visit of the representative of the United States European Command Bean Hodges.  The visit comes after the visit of the Azerbaijani President to the United States, after which there is a warming of relations and restoration of the previous level of strategic cooperation.

The US wants to gain a foothold in the Black Sea - Caspian region. They support the strengthening of military cooperation between Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, to create a safe haven for Europe from the Islamic world. At the same time, the interest of Azerbaijan to liberate Karabakh is not taken into account, according to the author of the article.

Yeni Musavat publishes statements of the ruling New Azerbaijan party’s Deputy Executive Secretary Siyavush Novruzov that if political parties are inactive for 2 years, then all over the world they are deprived of their registration.

According to him, the parliament has received draft amendments to the law on political parties, aimed at detailing their financial sources.

For example, some parties indicate zero financial activities, while their headquarters have paid functionaries, and their leaders have drivers and bodyguards.

According to Novruzov, the amendments provide for the application of liability measures against parties that conceal their financial sources.

The party Citizens and Development sees the proposed innovations as spread of repression against the parties.

Musavat considers that the amendments will make the already regressive law on political parties even more reactionary.

The party National Independence considers these measures as a start to the elimination of parties.

Bizim Yol draws attention to the innovations in the banking sector, under which loans will be given to persons with a monthly income of more than 410 AZN. The expert Rovshan Agayev believes that it will deprive 77% of the population of access to loans.    -0-