Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development to be discussed at the UN General Assembly session on 7 December 2006

MEDIA AZERI BROADCASTING COUNCIL CLOSES ANS TV AND ANS CM RADIO AZERI TV WATCHDOG JUSTIFIES DECISION TO TAKE PRIVATE COMPANY OFF AIR CLOSED AZERI BROADCASTER APPEALS TO PRESIDENT FOR HELP OSCE OFFICE CONDEMNS CLOSURE OF PRIVATE TV BROADCASTER IN AZERBAIJAN MOST POPULAR AZERI COMMERCIAL BROADCASTER TAKEN OFF AIR COURT RULES TO EVICT AZERI OPPOSITION DAILY PRESIDENT'S REACTION TO MEDIA SITUATION REPORT FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AUTHORITIES SHUT DOWN TV STATION AND EVICT TWO NEWSPAPERS AND NEWS AGENCY IN CRACKDOWN ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA OSCE OFFICE PRESENTS REPORT ON AZERBAIJAN'S PUBLIC BROADCASTER BELIEVERS ENRAGED BY ANTI-ISLAMIC PUBLICATION EU-AZERBAIJAN COOPERATION PRESIDENT BARROSO AND THE PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN SIGN A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON ENERGY PARTNERSHIP EU'S BARROSO PRAISES AZERBAIJAN AS KEY ALLY EU SIGNS ACCORDS WITH THREE CAUCASUS NATIONS BILATERAL RELATIONS PUTIN AND ALIYEV MEET IN MOSCOW PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA HOLD TALKS AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS TO HAVE JOINT PROJECTS AZERBAIJAN, UAE SIGN CO-OP PAPERS IRAN, AZERBAIJAN TO START PARALLEL POWER GRID OPERATION TURKIC LEADERS COMMIT TO FURTHERING TIES more AZERBAIJAN INTRODUCES TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR CORRUPTION more NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT FOREIGN MINISTERS OPTIMISTIC ON GARABAGH TALKS INTERVIEW OF PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV TO AZERBAIJAN NATIONAL TELEVISION AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA NEAR FINAL TALKS ON DISPUTED REGION GLOBAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2006 WORLD WATER AND SANITATION CRISIS URGENTLY NEEDS A GLOBAL ACTION PLAN MEDIA COVERAGE IN AZERBAIJAN UN NEWS THE STATE CUSTOMS COMMITTEE PRESENTS THE DRAFT OF AZERBAIJAN'S NEW CUSTOMS CODE BASED ON EU STANDARDS CHILDREN'S COURTS TO OPEN IN AZERBAIJAN NEXT YEAR UNFPA HELD A CONFERENCE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN UNHCR DEPLORES FORCED RETURN OF REFUGEE BY AZERBAIJAN IOM AND UNDP TRANSFORM THEIR JOINT PROJECT INTO A COMMUNITY MICRO-FINANCE INSTITUTION IN NAKHCHIVAN OIL & GAS FIRST OIL FROM EAST AZERI REACHES SANGACHAL TERMINAL AZERBAIJAN: COPING WITH THE OIL WINDFALL CASPIAN OIL MYTH CRASHES AS EXXON SHUTS BAKU OFFICE EBRD - AZERBAIJAN AZERBAIJAN TOPS GLOBAL GROWTH - EBRD ENHANCING ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES EBRD LENDS TO PROMOTE ENERGY SECTOR REFORM IN AZERBAIJAN EBRD EXPANDS MICROFINANCE IN AZERBAIJAN EBRD TRANSITION REPORT 2006: DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION DRIVES GROWTH IN EASTERN EUROPE ECONOMY CORRUPTION SURVEY PLACES BAKU AS 130TH AZERI BUDGET TRANSPARENCY LOW - STUDY INDUSTRIAL TOWN TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN AZERBAIJAN NEXT YEAR COMMUNICATION ALI ABBASOV ACCUSES THE ITU OF FAILING TO PERFORM ITS FUNCTION UPU GRANTS MORE PRIVILEGES TO AZERBAIJAN FOR ARMENIAN OCCUPATION CEREMONY ON GRANTING THE TITLE OF GOODWILL AMBASSADOR OF ISESCO TO MRS MEHRIBAN ALIYEVA, PRESIDENT OF THE FOUNDATION more PRESIDENT SIGNS ORDER SETTING UP STATE COMMISSION TO DEAL WITH PROBLEMS OF AZERBAIJANI CITIZENS ENGAGED IN RETAIL TRADE IN RUSSIA more   Download UNDP   Screen Saver   UNDP Azerbaijan Website:   www.un-az.org/undp/   Contact Information   Address:   3, UN 50th Anniversary str.   AZ 1001 Baku, Azerbaijan   Telephone:   (+99412) 4989888   Fax:   (+99412) 4983235   (+99412) 4922491   E-mail:   undpbulletin@un-az.org     To unsubscribe please click here AZERBAIJAN SHUTS INDEPENDENT TV STATION Associated Press, November 24, 2006 By AIDA SULTANOVA, BAKU, Azerbaijan - Authorities cut off broadcasts from Azerbaijan's first independent TV station on Friday and ordered the eviction of opposition newspapers and organizations from their offices in the capital, moves government opponents called part of a campaign to silence dissent. The former Soviet republic's Economic Court ordered the eviction of tenants from a building that houses the editorial offices of the opposition newspapers Azadliq and Bizim yol, as well as the headquarters of the main opposition party, the Popular Front. Tenants were given until Saturday morning to vacate their offices, said Yashar Aliyev, a top police official in the capital. Police surrounded the building and allowed two people from each organization to remain, but would not let others in, said Mehman Aliyev, director of the Turan news agency, whose offices are also in the building. Azadliq, which leases the building, had been warned of the pending eviction after a government property committee demanded thousands of dollars in back rent. Editor Ganimat Zahidov has been on a hunger strike since Nov. 9, and was hospitalized Friday after his health worsened, said Fuad Mustafayev, deputy chief of the Popular Front. Earlier Friday, ANS television was pulled off the air by the government, which said the station - two days away from celebrating its 15th anniversary with a gala concert - had not extended its license. ANS Vice President Mirshahin Agayev said the station received no official notification of the problem with its license, and that the government had made its move without the required court order. "As always, we want to believe ... that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev is the guarantor of democracy and security of people in Azerbaijan, and we think that the president will interfere and help clear up this misunderstanding," Agayev said. ANS President Vahid Mustafayev later said the station would resolve the issue in the courts, suggesting it would sue or appeal to reverse the decision. The Popular Front's Fuad Mustafayev said the shut-off of ANS "resulted from the official policy of ending the right to free speech in Azerbaijan." Two other leading opposition parties, Musavat and the Democratic Party, lashed out at the government for what they called an attack on free speech. Musavat issued a statement saying it "sharply condemns these actions and demands an end to pressure and persecution against freedom of speech and the media." Opposition parties and independent media have suffered frequent harassment in the oil-rich Caspian Sea state, which Aliev has run since 2003. He succeeded his father, a former communist, in elections denounced by the opposition as neither free nor fair. The Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which represents 56 nations in Europe and North America, criticized the actions against ANS. The OSCE is "deeply concerned about the closure," said Maurizio Pavesi, head of the OSCE's Baku office, adding that he was "perplexed" that the decision came into force immediately without allowing for an appeal. AZERI BROADCASTING COUNCIL CLOSES ANS TV AND ANS CM RADIO AZERI TV WATCHDOG JUSTIFIES DECISION TO TAKE PRIVATE COMPANY OFF AIR CLOSED AZERI BROADCASTER APPEALS TO PRESIDENT FOR HELP OSCE OFFICE CONDEMNS CLOSURE OF PRIVATE TV BROADCASTER IN AZERBAIJAN MOST POPULAR AZERI COMMERCIAL BROADCASTER TAKEN OFF AIR COURT RULES TO EVICT AZERI OPPOSITION DAILY PRESIDENT'S REACTION TO MEDIA SITUATION AUTHORITIES SHUT DOWN TV STATION AND EVICT TWO NEWSPAPERS AND NEWS AGENCY IN CRACKDOWN ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA OSCE OFFICE PRESENTS REPORT ON AZERBAIJAN'S PUBLIC BROADCASTER BELIEVERS ENRAGED BY ANTI-ISLAMIC PUBLICATION   December 2006, Issue No. 44 Previous Issues UNDP Azerbaijan Website Bulletin Home Page Country Information  Quick facts  Map of Azerbaijan  Azerbaijan Living Conditions Report 2006  Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic  National Anthem  Embassies in Azerbaijan AZERBAIJANI ANSWER TO OIL GLUT: BATHE IN IT International Herald Tribune, November 28, 2006 NAFTALAN, Azerbaijan: Outside this improbable spa in a remote part of the former Soviet Union, oil rigs bob on a hardscrabble plain of rocks, shrubs and rusting industrial equipment that could easily pass for a stretch of West Texas. Inside, Ramil Mutukhov, a lanky 25- year-old, prepares to be pampered and preened, scrubbed and peeled in a bath of pure crude oil. He undresses, hangs his trousers and sweatshirt on a peg, pulls off socks and underwear and folds up a wad of brown paper towels. He will need those later. more   If you have any suggestions for how we can improve the Bulletin, please send us an e-mail. Your input would be greatly appreciated.