Azerbaijan at the Center of Attention of International Media

• 01.19.2016, 18:24
•  Region,  World

The economic crisis in Azerbaijan could not be ignored by the international media.

As experts assert, Azerbaijan is facing the same difficulties and uncertainties that the other post-Soviet countries faced, having a structural dependence on exports of hydrocarbons.

The unrest follows a steep drop in the value of the national currency, the manat, against the US dollar, with residents hard-hit by rising inflation and unemployment. Falling oil revenues, which make up the vast majority of Azerbaijan’s exports, have also damaged the economy.

In an interview with Spanish "El Confidencial'', an expert told that if the oil prices do not rise in 2016, all the possibilities of Aliyev regime to control the resources will obviously decrease. It would undermine the stability of the regime, and it is predicted that it would become more ruthless towards the opposition or internal criticism''.

Journalist Daniel Hiriarte, in turn, noted that the deficit could have significant consequences on the so-called "caviar diplomacy" - a disproportionate investment of petrodollars in the PR for whitening the image which is considered to be one of the most corrupt and repressive regimes in the world.

President Ilham Aliyev’s government has faced increasing criticism on human rights abuses, with several journalists and rights activists jailed over the past year on charges such as hooliganism, tax evasion, and illegal business activities, The Guardian writes.

Rights groups say the charges are often trumped up, and leveled in retaliation for opposition activities and criticism of senior government officials. Azerbaijani officials have denied the allegations.

Despite the fact that even the UN Committee against Torture criticized the impunity of Azerbaijani officials in a report published in December, the campaign of repression against political dissidents in Azerbaijan is paid little attention to. ''El Confidencial '' emphasizes that "a serious and real danger lies in the fact that people, spoiling and perverting democratic values ​​in exchange for '' caviar '' or other form of bribery or reward, not only harm the image of the EU in Azerbaijan but also contribute to undermining its own project of the European Union, which is fraught with serious risks. Therefore, European governments should be less favorable to any bribery, whether it is in the structure of the EU or the Council of Europe".