|
|
 Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney will pay a visit to South Caucasus region at the early September, Reuters reported citing the official statement by White House. During his tour to begin on 2 September, US Vice President plans to visit Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Italy. The experts say that this visit aims at demonstrating Washington’s support for Tbilisi. Earlier Cheney publicly expressed US solidarity with the Georgian government and people and stated that “Russian aggression” which threatens “sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia” should not be left without response. |
 The Unites States Senator Richard Lugar states Azerbaijan’s transition to new stage of development of democratic state. “The election process in Azerbaijan has improved and the United States expect the upcoming presidential elections will be held in democratic and fair conditions,” Lugar said. Senator touched upon the issues regarding the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan in the meeting with Azerbaijani state officials. “I am sure that the Azerbaijani society has become more democratic and the forthcoming elections will be held in transparence and democratic conditions,” Lugar said. |
 Azerbaijani opposition Adalat party has defined the candidate to nominate to the presidential elections. “Adalat will support the candidature of Fazil Gaznfaroglu, chairman of the Great Establishment Party (GEP),” a source told Trend News. GEP Assembly has nominated Gazanfaroglu’s candidature. The Central Election Commission (CEC) approved his candidature. Elkhan Shukurlu, Deputy Chairman of Adalat, initiated to nominate Gazanfaroglu’s candidature. Shukurlu’s supporters have already commenced the process to collect the necessary 40,000 signatures. |
 The Assembly of the West European Union will develop a report on ‘Security in the Caspian region’. “Document’s aim is to make contribution into solution of the problems in the Caspian region,” Mike Hancock Deputy Chairman of the Assembly of European Union on Political Issues, said at the meeting with Elmar Mammadyarov, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister. According to Hancock, the Assembly delegation will pay a visit to Azerbaijan from 14 to 17 September to study the problems in the region. “Delegation will also touch upon the delayed conflicts and discuss the development prospects in Azerbaijan,” Hancock said. Mammadyarov said that the report must show the importance of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. “The world community must understand the significance to solve the problem,” Azerbaijani Minister said. |
 The Azerbaijani MPs believe that the Russian State Duma violates the international law through recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which are the Georgian territories. “Decision of the Russian State Duma and Council of Federation creates dangerous negative precedent for the world,” MP Aydin Mirzazade, an Azerbaijani parliamentary representative to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and a member of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), told Trend News on 25 August. Mirzazade believes that there was no need for Russia, who is a member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, to make such a decision. “This decision should be failure and directed against Russia. Thus, there were nations within Russia to declare their independencies in different times,” the MP said. |
 Azerbaijani women in the Zira settlement in Azizbayov District of Baku, as well as Yevlakh and Ganja Cities will receive qualified medical aid within the visit of physicians of the Central Medical Women Health Institute Horev, Israel to Azerbaijan. The visit is implemented by the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Visit’s aim is to take preventive measures and to reveal gynecological disorders amongst women. Four Israeli professors – Riva Borvik, an expert of the Physician –Oncology Association in Europe, Olga Kogan, a member of Gynaecology Collegiums Bureau, Yudit Goldman, director of the Breast Ultrasonic Diagnostics, and Roman Barak, director of the International Medical Centre Horev, will examine patients. Delegation has already examined women in the Zira settlement. On 27 August, Israeli physicians will hold consultations in Yevlakh and Ganja on 28 August. |
 The position of the US on the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict has not changed, U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Armenia Joseph Pennington said, APA reports quoting Interfax. He said this while commenting on the statement of Director of Hudson’s Center for Eurasian Policy “The relations between Russia and the US after the developments in South Ossetia make meaningless participation of these countries in OSCE Minsk Group”. Pennington said that the statement had been made by an unofficial person and did not cover the policy of the US on Nagorno Karabakh. |
 The Central Election Commission (CEC) issued registration cards and will complete sending the cards to the district election commissions. Chief of the CEC Press Service Azer Sariyev told APA the registration cards should be sent to the district commissions in 50 days and to the polling stations in 25 days before the elections according to the Electoral Code. Sariyev said the voters, who wouldn’t be at the territory they were registered, could vote at the available polling stations in the country’s territory. Therefore the voters should receive registration cards from the district election commissions from September 12 until October 12. The voter can present this card at any polling station on elections day and vote. |
 30 thousand blind electors in Azerbaijan can vote easily in the presidential elections, Samyar Abdullayev, Chairman of Azerbaijan Blind Men Society told APA. He said the blind men would vote via scantling system, which has no analogue in CIS. He said his society would reach agreement with the Central Election Commission. “According to this agreement special ballots issued for the blind voters will be sent to all polling stations. Those ballots with the scantling system will not be much different than usual. The blind voters can find the name of candidate they choose and vote easily without the help of anyone”. |
 Blind invalids can work at the communication services in Azerbaijan, Chairman of Azerbaijan Blind Men Society Samyar Abdullayev told APA. He said they opened together with Aztelekom industrial association the special schools for blinds to provide them with jobs at the communication services and already started admission to this school. Graduates from this school can work at the public communication services and mobile operators. “Education term is 1.6 year at the school. The school can function as a faculty of Communication College in future”. |
 The present composition of the Public Committee for Control over Penitentiary System under Justice Ministry will hold its last meeting on August 28, coordinator of the committee Sahib Mammadov told APA. He said that the tenure of the committee’s present composition was about to expire. The members of the committee will report to the public and Election Commission on September 11. After that the Election Commission will form new composition of the Public Committee. Sahib Mammadov said that members of the Public Committee continued monitoring the jails. He said jail #10 was monitored on August 23 and added that there were 760 prisoners in the jail. The human rights defender said the detention conditions, nourishment were normal, there was no narcologist in the jail. He said they would appeal to Justice Ministry and recommend to appoint narcologist to the jail. |
 BP said exports of Azeri oil to Turkey via Georgia has been brought to full operation after repairs to the $4 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline damaged by a fire a few weeks ago. BP-Azerbaijan spokeswoman Tamam Bayatly told APA-Economics that oil is being pumped through the pipeline at the regular capacity at present. “We tested the repaired pipeline. This was some limited and intermittent flow of oil through the pipeline before a move to full operation. At the same time, oil output in the country is being increased gradually to the regular level,” she added. Due to the disruption, the BP-led Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli oilfields in the Caspian Sea had cut output to about 250,000 bpd from about 850,000 bpd before the BTC link was damaged. |
 Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has issued an executive order on increasing the minimum wage in the country, the President’s Press Service told APA. According to the order, the minimum wage has been raised by 25 percent and is set at AZN 75 as from September 1. Under another executive order of the president, the basic part of the age pensions has been raised by 25 percent and is set at AZN 75 as from September 1. By decree, the State Social Protection Fund has been instructed to bring the monthly pensions, benefits for families of martyrs, National Heroes the disabled and others inline with the 1st item of the executive order. The Cabinet has been instructed to solve the related issues. |
 President Ilham Aliyev approved the state program on reliable food supply of population in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2008-2015, the Press service of the President told APA. The Cabinet of Ministers has been instructed to take all necessary measures together with the appropriate centers and executive powers in this direction. |
 Council of Europe and “Yeni Nesil” Journalists’ Union hold a conference “Media and elections: Democratic commitment of media” in Baku. APA reports that the conference is held within the framework of the joint project of the Council of Europe and European Commission “Moldova and South Caucasus – support to free and fair elections”. Parliamentarians, editors, journalists, nongovernmental organizations, analysts, foreign and local experts attend the conference. Head of Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Samad Seyidov said that one of the commitments undertaken by Azerbaijan upon accession to the Council of Europe was the democratic development of media. |
|
|
