Azerbaijan

The transit potential of the Caspian energy resources is facing challenges: Joining the European Energy Community would be a significant step for the transit countries of South Caucasus to ensure their stability and democratic development.

A sad anniversary is upon us. The 29th of June marks exactly one year since the declaration of the global Caliphate - the Islamic State (previously the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). This anniversary is an occasion to reflect on the impact that the various radical Islamic movements and groups have on Salafis (adherents to a strain of Sunni fundamentalism) in Azerbaijan and just how active Azerbaijani Salafis may be in transnational networks and organizations of Islamic radicals.

The trade relations of the six countries of the Eastern Partnership is a complex web of discrepancies. They have assigned different association agreements with Russia and the EU. The coexistence of these two models of economic integration poses challenges - and problems.

Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus has been arrested in Baku. The regime’s savage crackdown on press and opposition started long before the presidential elections of 2013.

Those who advocate for the rights of sexual minorities in all three countries are confronted with staunchly conservative stereotypes and deep-seated resentment towards all those who challenge or could be seen to break up the traditional social and family structures. The weakly developed understanding of democratic values and minority rights is not just inherited from the Soviet Union.

In May 2012, when the Euro Vision Song Contest took place in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital presented itself as open and liberal. But there is also a second reality: The Azerbaijani society is deeply conservative. In many families it is still a shame when sons or daughters come out as homosexual. Some of them are faced with violence from their own families.