Eight persons dead in a head-on car collision. Twenty-nine soldiers injured in an army vehicle crash. "A devil by the name of Gazel" read a recent headline in the Azerbaijani opposition newspaper Musavat , taking aim at Russian-made Gazel mini-vans, a frequent cause of Azerbaijan's growing number of fatal traffic accidents.
Both Azerbaijan and Armenia could not hide their disappointment following the failure of a presidential summit in France in February to achieve a breakthrough in Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks. With discussions stalled and cease-fire violations by both sides increasingly frequent, Azerbaijan has stepped up threats to use military force to regain the territory.
The lack of a breakthrough during the long-expected summit between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian on Nagorno-Karabakh has flattened Azerbaijani hopes for a peaceful resolution to the 18-year-old territorial dispute, observers say.
Hopes are running high among Azerbaijani observers that a pending summit between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will clear the way for a Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement.
Azerbaijan is wrestling with a geopolitical dilemma following President Ilham Aliyev's recent visit to Iran. Azerbaijani officials want to foster better relations with Iran while maintaining a strong strategic relationship with the United States. Striking the proper diplomatic balance is proving tricky for Baku, given the long-standing animosity that exists between Washington and Tehran.
Mirshahin Agayev, the news anchor for Azerbaijan's ANS television, wondered during a recent broadcast about the potential repercussions of a landslide in Baku. "A crack in the ground or a crack in the government?" he asked. The question was not entirely rhetorical.
Mirshahin Agayev, the news anchor for Azerbaijan's ANS television, wondered during a recent broadcast about the potential repercussions of a landslide in Baku. "A crack in the ground or a crack in the government?" he asked. The question was not entirely rhetorical.
After years of wrangling, public television free from overt government control has come to Azerbaijan, but critics charge that the move will do little to improve conditions for an independent and critical press.
News that the United States plans a massive redeployment of its armed forces has Azerbaijanis wondering whether their country will soon host US troops. Azerbaijani officials are coy on the base question, prompting some local political analysts to say Baku is trying to leverage the issue to achieve a breakthrough on the stalled talks on a Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement.
This summer has been a volatile political season for Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev appears intent on promoting generational change within the ruling establishment. But there are signs that the old guard will not go quietly.
