BAKU SMOOTH ITS RIGHTS RECORD WITH A THICK LAYER OF CAVIAR
AZERBAIJAN
Some caviar and a lot of oil have a long way to go together.
In recent years, Baku has spent millions of dollars to convince
politicians in Europe and the United States as the country’s oil-rich
Caucasus is a reliable partner – and deflect criticism that the
country is authoritarian and does not respect basic human rights.
On October 30, some 600 influential Washington met in the halls of the
National Museum for a five course dinner and sponsored by the Alliance
Azerbaijan-USA show. The evening was hosted by the President of the
Alliance and former U.S. Congressman Dan Burton. The “Honorary Host
Committee” of the event included four U.S. senators and 13 members
of Congress.
Joshua Noonan, analyst Azerbaijan “The Conway Bulletin” who attended
the gala in Washington said: “It was a useful exercise for them
because they were former members of Congress and people the media
establishment in Washington, a lot of people who lobby for them were
also there. It was pretty interesting. It was a great event. ”
The event took place in the sumptuous surroundings of the aggressive
strategy of Baku “caviar diplomacy”, using a wide range of gifts and
other incentives to change the opinions of decision makers in favor
of Azerbaijan.
Diplomacy Caviar
Former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Kauzlarich told RFE /
RL that “such events only underline the contrast between reality and
fiction about Azerbaijan.”
The term “caviar diplomacy” has become the title of a report
published in May 2012 by the European Stability Initiative (ESI),
a think tank specializing in Southern Europe and the challenges of
the EU enlargement.
Gerald Knaus, president of ESI and an author of the report Azerbaijan,
told RFE / RL how the project was born.
“As the situation of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan
continued to deteriorate, the Council of Europe – whose role is to
ensure European standards of democracy and human rights – has become
less audible and more silent in his review, “said Knaus. “This applies
to elections, political prisoners, the general monitoring obligations
of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe with regard to the rights of
man. So we decided to try to understand and describe how this process
to silence this institution was actually used and how it worked. ”
Rebecca Vincent, activist Human Rights based in London and a former
U.S. diplomat in Baku, said the offensive public relations of
Azerbaijan has made his job more difficult.
“From the point of view of a defender of human rights, it makes our job
very difficult in some of these European institutions, including the
Council of Europe – I think it also aa place at EU level European –
when we raise concerns about issues relating to human rights, there
clearly was the politicians who have been balanced in the opposite
direction, “said Rebecca Vincent.
Gerald Knaus ESI adds that the efforts of Baku were “very aggressive.”
“The [diplomacy Caviar] includes a systematic approach to build
friends, invite people in large numbers. Dozens of members of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) are invited
to Baku by pro-government NGOs or directly by the government every
year, “said Knaus.”It takes a very aggressive lobbying, promising
and offering positions as lobbyists people who occupied prominent
positions in the Council of Europe before sending a clear signal – if
you’re on our side, you could become a well-paid lobbyist. ” The ESI
report mentions, among others, former German Christian Democrat and
former member of PACE Eduard Lintner, who was part of a delegation
of the PACE noted Azerbaijani referendum in March 2009, abolished
presidential term limits and paved the way for President Aliyev to
remain in his office indefinitely.
The report of the PACE delegation stated that the widely criticized
referendum “showed the will of the people of Azerbaijan have greater
stability and elements for greater democratization.” At the end
of 2009, PACE Lintner left to become president of the Society for
the Promotion of German-Azerbaijani Relations (GEFDAB) – a shadowy
organization described as a de facto group lobbying for Baku.
For the presidential election last month in Azerbaijan, where Aliyev
received the third term GEFDAB sponsored a mission to observe the
elections by a Belgian NGO registered. The mission found the election
“fair, democratic and transparent.”
Think Tanks
Lobbying efforts Baku also seem to extend to the use of focus groups
to change public opinion. One month before the presidential election,
the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC) in
Brussels, published a report entitled “Azerbaijan Republic: a model
of good governance.”
In broken English, the report praised the “stable social welfare”
in Azerbaijan, explains the rights of women, “comparable to that
of EU Member States” and notes Baku “absolute respect for religious
minorities. ”
The site ESISC stresses “produces custom reports, analysis and …
briefings to meet the exact needs of each client in the industry.” The
center does not say who the “client” in the case of the report on
Azerbaijan.Efforts Baku in Europe seemed to bear fruit in January when
PACE rejected – by a vote of 175 against and 79 in favor – a stern
report by Christoph Strasser Special Rapporteur on the identification
of 85 political prisoners in Azerbaijan and calling for their release.
German MEP Strasser has not received a visa to enter Azerbaijan since
he was appointed Special Rapporteur in 2009.
In many ways, the offensive diplomacy caviar Baku seems related to the
presidential election last month. According to ESI, which this week
published a report on the election and its aftermath, no less than
50 organizations sent observation teams during the elections in Baku.
Forty-nine of them – especially obscure and many of them are connected
with the Azerbaijani NGOs funded as GEFDAB Lintner and welcomed
the vote.
Only the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
criticized the election as undemocratic and non-compliant with
international standards. Baku has since threatened to significantly
reduce its cooperation with the OSCE.
Former U.S. diplomat Vincent does not hesitate to describe the actions
of many MEPs as “unethical”.
“It sends a bad impression. I think, especially for policymakers in
democratic countries where they enjoy human rights and fundamental
freedoms to replenish an authoritarian regime that does not respect
the rights of its citizens while their constituents at home have
no idea really what they are abroad – it is not quite reasonable,
“said Rebecca Vincent.
The work of the Azerbaijan America Alliance seems to be a geographical
extension efforts Baku in Europe. Although officially an NGO, it was
created by Anar Mammadov, Azerbaijan oligarch and a son of the Minister
of Transport Ziya Mammadov. Even a glance at the website of the group
says it strictly follows the positions of the Azerbaijani government.
One of the main goals of the alliance is to develop the Azerbaijan
Caucus in the U.S. Congress. This group, which was founded in 2004,
now has 46 members.
According to the website Opensecrets.org public interest, which
monitors lobbying in Washington, the Alliance has paid the lobbying
firm Fabiani & Company $ 1.8 million so far in 2013, more than half
of total revenues lobbying. In 2012, Azerbaijan America Alliance
Fabiani paid $ 2.4 million in 2011 and 1.8 million.
The analyst Noonan, who attended the recent gala, said the public
relations efforts of Baku are unlikely to be as influential in the
United States they appear to have been in Europe. Ultimately, he
said, must understand that Baku congressmen react more strongly to
their constituents.
“The [public diplomacy Baku] is useful for reaching higher-level
individuals in Washington lobbying effort but this will not be a
long-term success if voters representatives are not engaged. Without
this commitment, it is only linkages. You are not going to influence
policy at a deep level, “said Noonan.
By Robert Coalson
Radio Free Europe
Thursday, June 26, 2014, Stephane © armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=94963