Our companion blog at Socialist Courier recently carried a post about the Eurovision Song Contest that is to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan.
SOYMB also reads that activists say that the government, led by the authoritarian president Ilham Aliyev, is using the contest to deflect criticism from the country’s appalling human rights record, and are calling on the singers and delegations who will descend on Baku later this month to speak out publicly.
“The government is spending huge sums of money to show Europe that people in Azerbaijan are happy,” says Rasul Cafarov, a pro-democracy activist who runs Sing for Democracy, a campaign set up to ensure that the performers who fly in for Eurovision will know exactly what kind of country they have landed in. “Our message is clear: please don’t close your eyes..." Activists say that the government was the first to politicise the contest, by making Mehriban Aliyeva, Mr Aliyev’s wife, the head of the Preparation Committee. She is an MP with the ruling party and one of the most powerful people in the country. “Accusing us of politicising it when the First Lady is constantly appearing on TV promoting it and they are using it for propaganda goals is just ridiculous" explained Cafarov. The President’s son-in-law will be singing at the contest’s Opening Ceremony.
281 families have been kicked out of their homes in forced evictions to make way for construction directly linked to Eurovision. “They managed to spend more than $700 million on construction for the event, but couldn’t find the money to pay proper compensation to people who were kicked out of their homes onto the street.” said journalist Khadija Ismayilova.
Numerous investigations have linked Azerbaijan’s top officials to allegations of huge corruption, including £30m of property in Dubai apparently purchased by Mr Aliyev’s 11-year-old son. Officials from the Presidential Administration have either denied or refused to comment on all the allegations against them. There is no danger that the properties of Baku’s ruling class will be bulldozed, like the homes of so many of their citizens have been. However, says Mr Abbasov, journalist, a fear of losing their own property abroad could be a catalyst for the government to be fairer with ordinary people. “If there was real pressure from the West at events like Eurovision, then of course the ruling clan would get scared,” says Mr Abbasov. “If there was a threat that all their millions and all their villas and properties in Europe could be taken away from them, they would think again.”
Ismayilov suggests “It would be really great to hear some kind of message from the stage from some of the contestants, to remind the regime here that Europe is a set of values, not just a song contest.”
Perhaps a rendition of "We Shall Overcome" by all the song competition contestestants would convey a message to dictators.
SOYMB also reads that activists say that the government, led by the authoritarian president Ilham Aliyev, is using the contest to deflect criticism from the country’s appalling human rights record, and are calling on the singers and delegations who will descend on Baku later this month to speak out publicly.
“The government is spending huge sums of money to show Europe that people in Azerbaijan are happy,” says Rasul Cafarov, a pro-democracy activist who runs Sing for Democracy, a campaign set up to ensure that the performers who fly in for Eurovision will know exactly what kind of country they have landed in. “Our message is clear: please don’t close your eyes..." Activists say that the government was the first to politicise the contest, by making Mehriban Aliyeva, Mr Aliyev’s wife, the head of the Preparation Committee. She is an MP with the ruling party and one of the most powerful people in the country. “Accusing us of politicising it when the First Lady is constantly appearing on TV promoting it and they are using it for propaganda goals is just ridiculous" explained Cafarov. The President’s son-in-law will be singing at the contest’s Opening Ceremony.
281 families have been kicked out of their homes in forced evictions to make way for construction directly linked to Eurovision. “They managed to spend more than $700 million on construction for the event, but couldn’t find the money to pay proper compensation to people who were kicked out of their homes onto the street.” said journalist Khadija Ismayilova.
Numerous investigations have linked Azerbaijan’s top officials to allegations of huge corruption, including £30m of property in Dubai apparently purchased by Mr Aliyev’s 11-year-old son. Officials from the Presidential Administration have either denied or refused to comment on all the allegations against them. There is no danger that the properties of Baku’s ruling class will be bulldozed, like the homes of so many of their citizens have been. However, says Mr Abbasov, journalist, a fear of losing their own property abroad could be a catalyst for the government to be fairer with ordinary people. “If there was real pressure from the West at events like Eurovision, then of course the ruling clan would get scared,” says Mr Abbasov. “If there was a threat that all their millions and all their villas and properties in Europe could be taken away from them, they would think again.”
Ismayilov suggests “It would be really great to hear some kind of message from the stage from some of the contestants, to remind the regime here that Europe is a set of values, not just a song contest.”
Perhaps a rendition of "We Shall Overcome" by all the song competition contestestants would convey a message to dictators.
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