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 President Ilham Aliyev has signed an executive order on increasing monthly allowances of servicemen and salaries of civil employees of State Border Service, the President’s Press Service told APA. Salaries of servicemen of State Border service (except actual military servants) has been increased by 50% on average, salaries of civil employees by 25% on average and money allowances of servicemen of State Border Service have been doubled. The executive order is efficient as from September 1, 2008. |
 The Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of Azerbaijan, Hidayat Orujov, provided an exclusive interview to Trend News Agency with regards to the recent incident in Abu-Bekir Mosque. Question: As preliminary version, dissatisfaction between the two religious groups was described as a reason for the recent incident at the Abu-Bekir Mosque in Baku. How do you consider, did the bloody incident, which the State Committee describes as an act of terror, take place due to order of the foreign forces or dissatisfaction of the internal forces. Answer: The State Committee has expressed its opinion with regards to this heinous crime and condemned the incident. I visited the place of incident yesterday. Such an incident has not taken place in Azerbaijan up to now. A crime has been committed against innocent people at God’s home during pray. |
 Council of Europe will hold three events in August in connection with the presidential elections in Azerbaijan. APA reports that CE Venice Commission, IFES and Central Election Commission will hold a workshop on August 21-22 and August 25-26. The workshop is for the lawyers and secretaries of Central Election Commission and election constituencies. TV journalists will be trained for covering the elections within the framework of the joint project of the Council of Europe and Internews on August 23-24. Journalists of the local TV channels will attend the trainings. Experts of the Council of Europe and local experts will train the journalists. |
 Chairman of Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov has today met with the representatives of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Observation Mission Yevgeni Sloboda and Iosif Sidrovich. CEC press service told APA that the representatives of the observation mission concerned themselves with the pre-election situation in the country. They said CIS observation mission will follow the presidential elections in a number of regions. The mission will arrive in Azerbaijan in mid-September and observe the voting. Report will be drawn up in the end. |
 Corner of “Azerbaijani literature” will be established in Vienna Library, Austria on the initiative of Culture and Tourism Ministry. The ministry’s press service told APA that rich collection of books had already been sent to the library. The collection includes books and electronic editions in Azeri, Russian, English and German about Azerbaijan’s culture, history, art, literature, Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict, as well as children’s literature. There are books “Heydar Aliyev and national-moral values”, “Heydar Aliyev and art”, “Examples of our culture”, “Zodchestvo Kavkazskoy Albanii”, “Armenian falsification”, “Les Monumente West D’Azerbaidjan D’ouest”, “Khojaly. Martyrs and Witnesses”, “Armenian terror”, “History of Azerbaijani clothes”, “Schubumkehr! Armenische Mythomanie und die Wahrheit Documentation”, “Literature of Turkic peoples”, “Anthology of Azerbaijani publicism” among them. The corner will be opened in September. |
 IFC and the Government of Azerbaijan have signed a memorandum of understanding on Business Environment Improvement Project. The document was signed by Lars H. Thunell, Executive Vice President and CEO of IFC and Heydar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economic Development. Heydar Babayev said this project will help Azerbaijan to advance on the Doing Business report. Azerbaijan became a member of IFC in 1995. To date, IFC contributed more than $400 million to about 40 projects in the country. IFC has also implemented advisory projects in banking, corporate governance, leasing, SME development, housing finance, securities market development, investment promotion, and business environment. |
 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued an order for awarding the winners of the contest “The best school” held in 2007/2008 educational year. Press Service of the President told APA the winner schools had received 10 000 AZN money award. Totally 50 schools have been awarded. Winners of the contest “The best teacher” have also been awarded by another presidential order. 100 teachers succeeded in this contest and every one of them has received 5000 AZN. |
 Araz Alasgarov, special correspondent of TrendNews in Ankara Ankara’s first diplomatic initiative, which was later described as a stability and cooperation platform in Caucasus was for the first time announced by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately after the military actions in Georgia started. Delivering a speech before the Turkish media in Bodrum, Erdogan characterized the war in South Ossetia as “inspiring serious concern”. Premier called on the sides to come to truce and use diplomatic means. “We would like the sides to come to truce from the early start of the conflict. We supported the sides continuing talks through the diplomatic ways,” Erdogan said. |
 The National Forum of the Azerbaijani Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) urges to the NGO of the region for co-operation to remove tensions in the Georgia-Ossetia conflict zone. “The Forum, as a mediator, is prepared to render technical, moral and organizational support for holding negotiations between the NGOs of region,” Rauf Zeyni, the chairman of the organization, told journalists in Baku on 19 August. “The Forum urges the conflicting sides to peace and to respect territorial integrity of sovereign and independent state, as well as to protect stability and tranquility in Caucasus,” Zeyni said. Nearly 500 NGOs are represented at the Azerbaijani NGO National forum. |
 Azerbaijan has handed over the Armenian hostage. Grant Gabrielian, 27, of Machqala village of Khojavand region and Armenian by origin, was taken hostage on 16 August. The hostage was handed over to Armenia on 19 August at noon in Bash Garvand village of Aghdam region of Azerbaijan at the presence of the representatives of Baku Office of International Red Cross Committee, said Shahin Sailov, secretary of the State Commission on Hostages, POWs and Missing People. |
 The parties, which refused from participation in the upcoming presidential elections, will receive a joint document. “We have already connected with parties, which refused to take part at the elections, and proposed them a document which reflects joint evaluation of the elections,” Fuad Mustafayev, Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) told Trend News. The Parties Cooperation Centre is proposed to establish at the meeting of the Council of Chairmen of the Azadlig bloc. Bloc has commissioned Mustafayev to hold talks in this direction. |
 The Azerbaijani Parliament sent invitation to three international organizations, where it has joined, to observe the presidential elections to be held in autumn. “Official invitations were sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the CIS Parliamentary Assembly,” the Parliament told Trend News on 19 August. All three international organizations will send their observers to Azerbaijan on the base of their schedule. The international organizations have not yet responded to the invitation. |
 Azerbaijan’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be discussed at a meeting of the Economic Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PA BSEC) to be held in Baku on 9 to 10 September. “The meeting has a great importance in this period when Azerbaijan seeks to join the WTO,” Asaf Hajiyev, the deputy chairman of the PA BSEC and head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the organizations said to Trend News on 19 August. The PA BSEC comprises 12 countries. According to Hajiyev, the issue on cooperation amongst the countries of the Black Sea region and the WTO will be discussed at the meeting of the committee. |
 Mass resignations are not expected to take place in the left-wing Azerbaijan Social Democrat Party (ASDP). “Only member of the Central Committee supported participation in the presidential elections during the discussions held on the participation in the elections,” Araz Alizade, the co-chairman of the ASDP, told Trend News on 19 August. The ASDP made a decision not to participate in the presidential elections with own candidate at the Central Plenum held on 18 August. The decision is connected with the presence of financial problem, the party said. Elshan Manafov, the member of the ASDP Central Committee, resigned from the party, protesting this decision on 19 August. Manafov explained reason of his resignation with the party’s decision not to join the elections and arousing of authoritarianism at the party. He said that he would establish the left-wing Democrat Party in future. |
 The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) held survey amongst the population with regards to the forthcoming presidential elections. “We know overall attitude. Being based on the results of the survey, we can say that our candidate Ilham Aliyev, who is supported by majority as well, will surely gain victory with majority of voices,” Deputy Executive Secretary of NAP, MP Mubariz Gurbanli said. According to Gurbanli, despite the fact that the ruling party is sure of the victory of its candidate, the NAP prepared wide plan with respect to the elections. “We have wide plans with regards to election campaign and we continue to carry out our work in the direction of their realization. We completed our works to determine Party members, who will observe elections and other such issues. |
 Exchange of war of prisoners took place at the check point arranged by the Russian militaries in Igoeti village (near Gori). Georgia handed over five Russian prisoners of war and received 15 people in exchange. A total of 13 of them are military men and two are civilians. There are wounded people amongst the Georgian prisoners of war and they were kept in Vladikavkaz and Tskhinvali so far. Former prisoners of war stated that they were treated normally. |
 Gulamhuseyn Alibayli, former chairman of Supreme Majlis (Assembly) of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) confirmed that he intends to withdraw his candidacy for presidential elections. “At the moment I am thinking about it,” Alibayli said to TrendNews. Alibayli resigned from the post of chairman of the Supreme Assembly of PFPA and membership of the party a week ago. He decided to run for presidency and to deal with politics independently. Central Election Commission registered the candidacy of Alibayli in the meeting on 16 August. |
 The number of citizens, who possess the right of voting in the upcoming presidential elections, is expected to significantly increase in Azerbaijan. “Every day 30-40 citizens apply to hotline, opened to specify voting lists, and it is expected that insignificant changes will take place in the voting lists,” Ramil Huseyov, the head of the Elections Information Centre at the Central Election Commission (CEC), told Trend News on 19 August. According to the data by the Azerbaijani CEC for May, 4,834,584 voters were registered. More than 4,6mln were registered in the voting lists in 2007. A total of 52% of voters are women and 48% are men. |
 Yeni Musavat, 12.08.08 Whom will Ilham Aliyev delegate his authority to? ACSDA’s expert replies to the newspaper’s question “Must presidential authority be delegated to Prime Minister when the election campaign starts?” According to Article 69.2 of the Election Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan: “The registered candidates who work in government bodies, municipal service, mass media on the basis of agreement of labor and civil right, plenipotentiaries of the campaign groups are dismissed during the period of election campaign (this rule doesn’t concern the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, MPs and municipal members); within at least 3 days, the ratified copy of the proper order is submitted to the election commission which registered them; they can not use their duty and position for obtaining privilege and superiority”. |
 The Republic of Azerbaijan has considerably changed either from political or economic point of view from 1 through 15 August. The start of presidential candidates’ election campaign is observed in political sphere. Several parties have already officially introduced their candidates to Central Election Commission (CEC). More detailed: Candidacies of the chairman of the Azerbaijani Unified Popular Front Party Gudrat Hasanguliyev, the chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) Ilham Aliyev, the chairman of the Umid Party Igbal Agazade were nominated. Self nominated: Yashar Ahmadov, Vugar Seyidov, Alimukhtar Akbarov and Sevinj Guliyeva applied to CEC for ratification of their presidential candidacies. Several coalitions were formed in order to secure transparency of forthcoming presidential elections. Such as: “Free, Transparent, Fair Elections”, “My Vote” and “Election 2008”. |
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