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 Nushravan Maharramli, who was re-elected as the chairman of the National Television and Radio Council of Azerbaijan, said that the Council’s activity to protect native language on air will be strengthened during the next years. “Council will mainly continue its work in accordance with the legislation on the protection of national waves from foreign influence,” Maharramli told TrendNews on Jan. 23. |
 The European Union enables to soften serious conflicts in Caucasus region and its activity promotes to settle the conflicts, Arman Kirakosyan, Armenia’s deputy foreign minister, said. “It is obvious that the EU introduces co-operation, but not competition in the region,” Kirakosyan said in his interview with Mediamax agency. |
 A competition, announced by the Commission on State Service under the President of Azerbaijan to fill up 610 vacancies in 33 state enterprises ended. Thus, 180 candidates out of 2,364 were recommended to be employed for the vacancies, a source at the commission told Trend News on Jan. 23. |
 Azerbaijani academics established the Zaka initiative group on Jan. 23 to support the referendum. Amendments to the Constitution are necessary for Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) Vice President Akif Alizade said at the group's founding meeting. |
 A member of the U.S. Congress House of Representatives and the Working Group on Azerbaijan, Congressman Steve Cohen made a statement on the Jan. 20 tragedy on Jan. 15, the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry reported on Jan. 23. In his speech, the congressman detailed the tragedy, the occupation of 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territory by Armenia, on the free presidential and parliamentary elections |
 Poland supports solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, General Franciszek Gagor, chief of the Polish Armed Forces General Staff, said. Geeral Gagor met with Azerbaijani Colonel-General Safar Abiyev. |
 Initiative Group for Karabakh and Republic appealed to Central Election Commission (CEC). Press service of Azerbaijan Democratic Party, which is the member of the group, told APA that the appeal says the persons collecting signatures underwent pressures by local law-enforcement bodies and executive bodies. The authors of the appeal named concrete facts in Hajigabul, Mingachevir, Sabirabad, Neftchala and Zerdab regions and underlined that it contradicted the Electoral Code. |
 PACE winter session will be held in Strasbourg on January 26-30, MM Press Service told APA. Azerbaijani delegation led by Samad Seyidov, Chairman of the Parliament’s Standing Commission on International and Inter-parliamentary Relations will attend the January session. The delegation includes Gultakin Hajiyeva, Ganira Pashayeva and Sabir Hajiyev. The report made by Bureau and Standing Committee on realized measures will be heard in the session. |
 Azerbaijani opposition party’s referendum initiative group has been issued referendum membership lists. “The Central Election Committee (CEC) issued referendum membership lists to the National Independence campaign group as the CEC revealed no problems with group’s founding documents,” spokesman for the National Independence Party Ali Orujov said. |
 “Mortgage and insurance” conference will be held in Baku on Feb 16 under the organization of the Azerbaijan Insurers Association (AIA). The event will be held with the support of Finance Ministry of Azerbaijan and International Finance Corporation (IFC), “APA-Economics” reports referring to AIA. |
 The letter of Armenian-captured Azerbaijani soldier Rafig Rahman Hasanov has today been delivered to his family, captive’s father Rahman Hasanov told APA Karabakh bureau. The contents of the letter are as follows: “I am safe and sound. I am in good condition. Meet you soon. My best regards to all relatives, as well as my uncles,” said in the letter. |
 “Arranging pre-financing for the Nabucco project will be one of the main aims of a conference on the gas pipeline to take place in Budapest next week, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said, APA reports. “For those of us who consider it more important to build the Nabucco pipeline, we must do more to ensure its realization,” Mr Gyurcsány said. Gyurcsány said that the project was not simply a business venture but about the whole of Europe’s energy security. |
 Monitoring will be held on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces near the Borsunlu village in Azerbaijan’s Naftalan region on Jan. 27, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend News. The monitoring will be held after a mandate by the special envoy of the OSCE chairman. The monitoring will be held on the Azerbaijani side by the OSCE Chairman's Personal Representative Imre Palatinus and Vladimir Chountulov. |
 Hungary’s embassy will be opened in Baku soon. Diplomatic sources told APA that Hungarian embassy will be opened in Azerbaijan in February. The embassy has rented a building in Icherisheher. Azerbaijan opened its embassy in Hungary in September, 2004. |
 We may see deflation at this year-end, said Arif Veliyev, Chairman of the State Statistical Committee. According to him, there has been no price rise since New Year and deflation is imminent in late January. “We might see not only single-digit inflation but even it might be deflation at the year-end if everything keeps going on as it does and the world financial crisis doesn’t slow down. |
 Azerbaijan will detail its position on the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform at the upcoming meeting in Istanbul. Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov will represent Azerbaijan at the meeting scheduled for Jan. 26, the office told Trend News. High-ranking officials from the Foreign Ministries of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Turkey will be in attendance. Turkey will be represented by Unal Cevikoz, the Director of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Caucasus Department. The meeting will focus on implementation of the Platform. |
 The average monthly salary stood at AZN 268.0 in Azerbaijan in 2008, up 24.2% on a year ago. The State Statistical Committee said the highest salary was earned in mining industry, finance, real estate and leasing sectors. In general, the fastest economic growth of the country continues to increase the take-home pay. Employees got AZN 14.1 million in social benefits and allowances during January-November. |
 A corporate meeting on the results of 2008 was held at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Azerbaijan on Jan 23. According to APA, speaking at the meeting, the Labor and Social Protection minister Fizuli Alekberov said that important works were implemented last year in the sphere of employment services. The minister said that 84 terminals were installed in Azerbaijan, especially in different places of Baku in 2008 and the unemployed people get information on vacancies via these terminals. |
 Four referendum initiative groups were established in Ganja – Gulustan, Metallurg, Kapaz and Nizami. “The groups received referendum membership lists from the constituencies and are gathering signatures,” a source told Trend News. “Our Ganja group unites 57 people and represents the Musavat party,” Ganja opposition figure Jahangir Amirkhanli told Trend News. |
 A roundtable “Council of Europe and Azerbaijan: new stage in the protection of human rights” devoted to the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe and 50th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights has been organized by Azerbaijani ombudsman, APA reports. Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova said Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the Council of Europe continued successfully, legal framework had been improved in the country. Ombudsman said ---- bribery in the country, facts of torture were observed in related bodies, there were cases of interference in the work of municipalities. |
 Interview of Azeri Press Agency with Chris Walker, the director of studies at the Freedom House. - Mr. Walker, in the Freedom of the World Map 2009, prepared by the Freedom House, among many disputed areas only Nagorno-Karabakh has been shown as “Armenia/Azerbaijan” territory. Why are all other disputed areas like Abkhazia and South Ossetia (shown as part of Georgia), Kosovo (shown as part of Serbia), Transdniestria (shown as part of Moldova) have been shown in their internationally recognized jurisdiction except Nagorno-Karabakh of Azerbaijan? |
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Electoral systems and the politics of coalitions (Torben Iversen Department of Government Harvard University and David Soskice Department of Political Science Duke University)
