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CAVIAR DIPLOMACY OR HOW AZERBAIJAN SILENCED THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE-PT-1
http://www.yerkir.am/en/news/25989.htm
12:31 - 25.05.2012
"There are a lot of deputies in the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly
whose first greeting, after 'Hello', is 'Where is the caviar?'"
Caviar has always been a symbol of luxury. Prolific caviar eaters
themselves, Russian tsars and Iranian shahs treated visiting royalty
to the roe of the Beluga sturgeon. With ninety per cent of the world's
caviar sourced from the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan (a Caspian nation with
a population of 8 million) is rich in caviar and generous with its
wealth. Even in Soviet times, Azeri officials brought tins of caviar
with them when they conducted business in other parts of the Empire.
Gift giving is a part of traditional Azeri culture. But sometimes it
comes at a price. As a recent book on customs and culture in Azerbaijan
put it:
"Big-hearted gestures, such as paying for an entire table of friends
dining at a restaurant or other costly favors for friends and guests
are still a norm ... The generosity shown towards friends is expected
to be paid back some day, however."
This was certainly the logic behind a policy that Azerbaijani officials
referred to in private as "caviar diplomacy." It began in 2001, not
long after Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe - the continent's
club of democratic nations. It gathered speed after Ilham Aliyev, who
had served in the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly (PACE),
became president of Azerbaijan in 2003. Once the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline was completed in 2005 and the Azerbaijani state coffers
were awash in oil revenues, the "caviar policy" shifted into top gear.
Diplomacy is always about winning friends, building alliances, cutting
deals. In the case of Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe, however,
it often went much further. As Azerbaijani sources in Strasbourg
told ESI in 2011, Azerbaijan had a systematic policy of getting
influence in Baku: "One kilogram of caviar is worth between 1,300 and
1,400 euro. Each of our friends in PACE receives at every session,
four times a year, at least 0.4 to 0.6 kg. Our key friends in PACE,
who get this, are around 10 to 12 people. There are another 3 to 4
people in the secretariat."
For some of these friends, the caviar is just the beginning:
"Caviar, at least, is given at every session. But during visits to
Baku many other things
are given as well. Many deputies are regularly invited to Azerbaijan
and generously paid.
In a normal year, at least 30 to 40 would be invited, some of them
repeatedly. People are invited to conferences, events, sometimes for
summer vacations. These are real vacations and there are many expensive
gifts. Gifts are mostly expensive silk carpets, gold and silver items,
drinks, caviar and money. In Baku, a common gift is 2 kg of caviar."
Not everybody who defended Azerbaijan in PACE did so for material
benefit. There were other factors at play, including geopolitical
considerations. But there are many indications that corruption has
played a role in deflecting PACE from its responsibilities. The
account of how the caviar policy has been implemented offered by
different Azerbaijanis has been corroborated through interviews with
PACE members and other sources. It explains conduct by the Council
of Europe that is otherwise incomprehensible.
Baku was expected to fully comply with the Council's monitoring
process, to commit itself to a peaceful
solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to tackle the problem
of political prisoners. The text also emphasised that the conduct
of the upcoming November 2000 elections would serve as a test of
Azerbaijan's commitment to democracy.
Not everyone was convinced by the wisdom of giving Baku the benefit of
the doubt. Malcolm Bruce, a British Liberal Democrat, noted that PACE
had usually withheld membership until a candidate state demonstrated
its commitment to democracy by holding free and fair elections
(which Azerbaijan had never done).
The debate then shifted to the Committee of Ministers, the Council's
executive body, which alone can decide to admit or expel member
states. The Committee of Ministers delayed the final vote on
Azerbaijan's accession until after the November 2000 parliamentary
elections, providing the authorities in Baku with an opportunity to
demonstrate progress.
These elections were held on 5 November 2000.
An observer mission by the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR) reported that "the vote counting and aggregation
of results processes were completely flawed and manipulated."
PACE observers noted "clear manipulation of the electoral procedures."
Andreas Gross, a Social Democrat member of the Swiss parliament
since 1991, was the head of PACE's election observation mission. An
experienced election observer, Gross discovered evidence of massive and
systematic fraud in the city of Sumgayit near Baku. As he told a
Swiss paper at the time:
"Since 1994 I have observed 13 elections in 7 countries and this was
the worst election fraud I saw. An hour before the opening of the
polling station I found 150 completed,
signed and stamped ballots for the ruling party in a safe. All day
on Sunday only around 350 citizens came to the polling station. In
other words, the results were obviously a foregone conclusion."
On 9 November 2000, Committee of Ministers adopted two nearly identical
resolutions inviting both Armenia and Azerbaijan to become members
of the Council of Europe.
One rationale was the need for parity between the two countries:
in September 2000 Umberto Ranieri, the Italian Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, had argued before PACE members on behalf of the
Committee of Ministers in favour of the "simultaneous" accession of
Azerbaijan and Armenia, "so as to avoid dangerous repercussions in
the region." Now the Committee of Ministers did not want to delay
Armenia's accession because of violations in Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://www.yerkir.am/en/news/25989.htm
12:31 - 25.05.2012
"There are a lot of deputies in the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly
whose first greeting, after 'Hello', is 'Where is the caviar?'"
Caviar has always been a symbol of luxury. Prolific caviar eaters
themselves, Russian tsars and Iranian shahs treated visiting royalty
to the roe of the Beluga sturgeon. With ninety per cent of the world's
caviar sourced from the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan (a Caspian nation with
a population of 8 million) is rich in caviar and generous with its
wealth. Even in Soviet times, Azeri officials brought tins of caviar
with them when they conducted business in other parts of the Empire.
Gift giving is a part of traditional Azeri culture. But sometimes it
comes at a price. As a recent book on customs and culture in Azerbaijan
put it:
"Big-hearted gestures, such as paying for an entire table of friends
dining at a restaurant or other costly favors for friends and guests
are still a norm ... The generosity shown towards friends is expected
to be paid back some day, however."
This was certainly the logic behind a policy that Azerbaijani officials
referred to in private as "caviar diplomacy." It began in 2001, not
long after Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe - the continent's
club of democratic nations. It gathered speed after Ilham Aliyev, who
had served in the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly (PACE),
became president of Azerbaijan in 2003. Once the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline was completed in 2005 and the Azerbaijani state coffers
were awash in oil revenues, the "caviar policy" shifted into top gear.
Diplomacy is always about winning friends, building alliances, cutting
deals. In the case of Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe, however,
it often went much further. As Azerbaijani sources in Strasbourg
told ESI in 2011, Azerbaijan had a systematic policy of getting
influence in Baku: "One kilogram of caviar is worth between 1,300 and
1,400 euro. Each of our friends in PACE receives at every session,
four times a year, at least 0.4 to 0.6 kg. Our key friends in PACE,
who get this, are around 10 to 12 people. There are another 3 to 4
people in the secretariat."
For some of these friends, the caviar is just the beginning:
"Caviar, at least, is given at every session. But during visits to
Baku many other things
are given as well. Many deputies are regularly invited to Azerbaijan
and generously paid.
In a normal year, at least 30 to 40 would be invited, some of them
repeatedly. People are invited to conferences, events, sometimes for
summer vacations. These are real vacations and there are many expensive
gifts. Gifts are mostly expensive silk carpets, gold and silver items,
drinks, caviar and money. In Baku, a common gift is 2 kg of caviar."
Not everybody who defended Azerbaijan in PACE did so for material
benefit. There were other factors at play, including geopolitical
considerations. But there are many indications that corruption has
played a role in deflecting PACE from its responsibilities. The
account of how the caviar policy has been implemented offered by
different Azerbaijanis has been corroborated through interviews with
PACE members and other sources. It explains conduct by the Council
of Europe that is otherwise incomprehensible.
Baku was expected to fully comply with the Council's monitoring
process, to commit itself to a peaceful
solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to tackle the problem
of political prisoners. The text also emphasised that the conduct
of the upcoming November 2000 elections would serve as a test of
Azerbaijan's commitment to democracy.
Not everyone was convinced by the wisdom of giving Baku the benefit of
the doubt. Malcolm Bruce, a British Liberal Democrat, noted that PACE
had usually withheld membership until a candidate state demonstrated
its commitment to democracy by holding free and fair elections
(which Azerbaijan had never done).
The debate then shifted to the Committee of Ministers, the Council's
executive body, which alone can decide to admit or expel member
states. The Committee of Ministers delayed the final vote on
Azerbaijan's accession until after the November 2000 parliamentary
elections, providing the authorities in Baku with an opportunity to
demonstrate progress.
These elections were held on 5 November 2000.
An observer mission by the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR) reported that "the vote counting and aggregation
of results processes were completely flawed and manipulated."
PACE observers noted "clear manipulation of the electoral procedures."
Andreas Gross, a Social Democrat member of the Swiss parliament
since 1991, was the head of PACE's election observation mission. An
experienced election observer, Gross discovered evidence of massive and
systematic fraud in the city of Sumgayit near Baku. As he told a
Swiss paper at the time:
"Since 1994 I have observed 13 elections in 7 countries and this was
the worst election fraud I saw. An hour before the opening of the
polling station I found 150 completed,
signed and stamped ballots for the ruling party in a safe. All day
on Sunday only around 350 citizens came to the polling station. In
other words, the results were obviously a foregone conclusion."
On 9 November 2000, Committee of Ministers adopted two nearly identical
resolutions inviting both Armenia and Azerbaijan to become members
of the Council of Europe.
One rationale was the need for parity between the two countries:
in September 2000 Umberto Ranieri, the Italian Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, had argued before PACE members on behalf of the
Committee of Ministers in favour of the "simultaneous" accession of
Azerbaijan and Armenia, "so as to avoid dangerous repercussions in
the region." Now the Committee of Ministers did not want to delay
Armenia's accession because of violations in Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress