Recently in Azerbaijan Category

But don't call them "savages." That would be "racist." "Azerbaijanis jailed for Jewish school murder plot," from AP, September 27 (thanks to Kenneth):

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) -- Three people have been convicted of plotting to kill teachers at a Jewish school in Azerbaijan.

A court in the capital Baku on Thursday found plot ringleader Rasim Aliyev and two other Azerbaijani citizens guilty of plotting the assassination of public officials and gun-smuggling. Aliyev was given a 14-year sentence while the others received 13 and eight years.

Investigators said Aliyev was hired to carry out the killings in Baku by an individual linked to security services in neighboring Iran.

Aliyev said in a televised confession that the attack was to be a reprisal against Israel for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear physicist....

Only in the sixth paragraph does the BBC let slip, and then only indirectly, that these "people" are Islamic jihadists. Why? For whom are they covering, and for what reason?

"Azerbaijan 'foiled plot to attack Eurovision,'" from the BBC, May 30 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Azerbaijan says it has arrested 40 people suspected of having plotted a "terrorist" attack on last week's Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.

The Azeri National Security Ministry says the plotters had planned to attack the event's venue - the Baku Crystal Hall - and several hotels on the eve of the competition.

The news was deliberately held back to prevent alarm among visitors, it adds.

There has been no independent confirmation of the alleged plot.

The suspects had "obtained Eurovision tickets with the aim of (committing) a terrorist act at the Baku Crystal Hall", the official statement said. Among the hotels named as targets were Hilton Baku and the JW Marriott Hotel.

They allegedly had links to neighbouring Dagestan, a mainly Muslim republic in the Russian North Caucasus plagued by Islamist insurgent attacks.

The suspects were found possessing guns and explosives, the ministry says....

Bloodshed by the will of Allah: the jihadi world view is rather like a real-life game of Whack-A-Mole: Allah apparently created huge numbers of unbelievers, people whom he "made for Hell" (Qur'an 7:179), solely so that the believers could kill them.

"Islamic terrorists issue threat against Jedward ahead of Eurovision," by Brian O'Reilly in the Independent, April 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):

TERRORISTS have threatened to target Jedward and other Eurovision participants at the annual music competition in May.

The Azeri terrorists, an Islamic group, have said they will target the participants of the Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan as they are “European scum”. It has threatened the use of “knives and chemical weapons” at the contest.

The terror group said in a statement yesterday “Blood of the European scum must be shed by the will of Allah.”

The annual musical contest has attracted entries from 42 countries from eastern and western Europe this year, but the group said the Eurovision is “a nightmare for all Muslims.”

The statement comes after a widespread crackdown by Azeri authorities on the group in preparation for the contest - 17 members were arrested and one blew up himself and a policeman in recent raids.

Jedward and other travelling participants will now have additional security measures introduced for their protection. 42 Countries will send delegations to Baku, while thousands of fans are expected to travel to the Caucus nation for the event....

If this story is true, and it may not be, it would not be surprising. It would be in line with everything else Obama has said and done to demonstrate his opposition to Israel doing much of anything to defend itself against the global jihad. "'Azerbaijan allows Israel to use its air bases near Iran border,'" from Israel Hayom, March 29 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Foreign Policy quotes U.S. diplomats as saying “We’re now watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we’re not happy about it” • A series of quiet political and military understandings have won Israel access to these air bases, senior U.S. sources explain.

Senior American diplomats and military intelligence officers have told Foreign Policy magazine that the United States now believes that Israel has been granted access to air bases in Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran. “The Israelis have bought an airfield,” a senior official told Foreign Policy in early February, “and the airfield is called Azerbaijan.”...

Israel’s ties with Azerbaijan, a Muslim country that became independent with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, have grown as its once-strong strategic relationship with another Iranian neighbor, Turkey, has deteriorated. For Israeli intelligence, there is also a possible added benefit from Azerbaijan: its significant cross-border contacts and trade with Iran’s large ethnic Azeri community.

Speaking to Foreign Policy, one of the U.S. sources said, “We’re watching what Iran does closely. But we’re now watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we’re not happy about it.”

The Azeri military - based on a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance 2011 and brought forth by Foreign Policy - has four abandoned, Soviet-era airfields that could be made available to the Israelis, as well as four air bases for its own planes....

Former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joe Hoar explained Israel’s calculations regarding a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities to Foreign Policy by saying, “They save themselves 800 miles of fuel. That doesn’t guarantee that Israel will attack Iran, but it certainly makes it more doable.”

Israel’s motivation for using Azeri air bases could be about more than simply saving fuel in a possible attack on Iran, it could be because, according to the report, one senior U.S. military intelligence officer described Israel’s mid-air refueling capabilities as “pretty minimal,” adding, “They’re just not very good at it.”...

One former CIA analyst told Foreign Policy that the U.S. had its doubts that Israel would launch an attack from Azerbaijan, describing it as “just too chancy, politically.” The source didn’t rule out the option that Israel could use Azeri airfields for “follow-on or recovery operations,” but added, “Of course, if they do that, it widens the conflict, and complicates it. It’s extremely dangerous.”

Two weeks ago security services in Azerbaijan arrested 22 people they say were hired by Iran to carry out terrorist attacks against the U.S. and Israeli embassies as well as Western-linked groups and companies....

Caucasian contribution to the funding of jihad
by Joseph “Soso” Zaalishvili

Anyone who thinks that jihad is a just war that simply begins one day, he is profoundly mistaken.

Jihad involves the teaching of Islam, the spiritual state of the Mujahedeen, and even more importantly, a lot of money.

I want to present one of the schemes for the financing of jihad which is well tested in the Caucasus.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, economic crisis reigned in the Caucasus. The population of the North Caucasus regions of Russia (Chechnya, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Ingushetia) and the new states (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) needed new jobs and economic stability.

Jihadists have always considered the Caucasus their territory, and actively began economic expansion to help the people of the Caucasus in the development of small businesses.

Citizens of Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Chechnya and other Muslim parts of the Caucasus received goods produced in Arab countries and Pakistan as practically free, as gifts.

A senior official of Chechen jihadist intelligence explained the origin of these items: these products were zakat (Islamic assistance to the needy). Goods sold in the Caucasus funded jihad in the Caucasus.

According to him, in the jihadist movement, there are special economic groups whose responsibilities include the establishment of business relations with the authorities of countries. So it was in Azerbaijan and Georgia. The jihadists fed the people with cheap products and earned money to continue the jihad.

In the Christian republics of the Caucasus, such as Georgia and Armenia, the jihadists are trying to establish business relationships with the law enforcement authorities of these republics, as serious business in post-Soviet republics is invested in the representatives of the power structures.

This scheme of funding jihad has been successfully operating today.

A significant portion of financial assistance that Georgia receives from the United States is spent on the purchase of household goods and food products manufactured in Islamic countries such as Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc.

Georgian armed forces take part in anti-terror operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Georgian nation is proud of it, while the government is encouraging economic relations with Iran.

If the international community does not treat seriously the issue of the financing of jihad in this way, the economy of the Caucasian republics so reaches out to the financial interests of the jihadists that they will lobby their political interests, and serious signs of this already exist in Georgia. There is a visa-free regime including Iran, Turkey and the North Caucasus, while in Georgia there is no official list of terrorist organizations, such as Al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, the Caucasian Imamate, etc. In Georgia, they are not officially considered terrorist organizations.

"Police took the names of the faithful gathered in the house, photographing and filming those present." Islamic supremacists in the West use the same intimidation tactic, filming anti-jihad protesters and trying to give the impression that they will ultimately cited for illegal activity -- and if those supremacists succeed in making the U.S. more like Azerbaijan, one day protesting against various manifestations of the jihad and Islamic supremacism may indeed be a criminal offense.

Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Baptist Christians in prison for having gathered to pray," from Asia News, November 5 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Baku (AsiaNews/F18) - Police burst into a private home and arrested 4 of Baptist Christians "guilty" of praying together, in the northern Qusar. Ilgar Mamedov owner of the house and three other Christians (Zalib Ibrahimov, Rauf Gurbanov and Akif Babaev) , were arrested by police on Oct. 31, and immediately brought before the local tribunal, which sentenced them to five days in jail, in a swift hearing held behind closed doors, without access to a defense.

Forum 18 news agency reports that on November 1, another Christian, went to the police to ask for news of the four arrested the night before, he knew the trial had already taken place. The nature of the offense is not clear, while faithful report that the police threatened them with even harsher penalties.

There were about 80 Baptists gathered in the house for Sunday celebrations. Before leaving, the police also cut gas and electricity to the apartment, to prevent them from preparing a festive lunch. Police took the names of the faithful gathered in the house, photographing and filming those present.

Police say it was a "normal" operation against illegal meetings. In this country religious groups must register and seek authorization for any activity, even to get together to pray. Many groups of Baptist Churches refuse to ask for registration, to avoid state interference. However, others say they have applied for recognition but their applications have been blocked for bureaucratic reasons.

Ilya Zenchenko, head of Azerbaijan's Baptist community, told Radio Free Europe that the Qusar police frequently arrest and charge members of religious groups, saying they must fight "extremism."

In the country are frequent condemnations of Baptist Christians. In May 2008, the pastor Zauer Balaev was sentenced to two years in prison for a crime based on evidence denounced as false. He 'was released in March 2008 following a formal protest by the World Baptist Alliance and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Baptist pastor Hamid Shabanov was arrested in 2009 on charges of having weapons found by police during a search, although those who know him guarantees that he never had them.

In another case, the court of Baku sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to a hefty fine for offering religious publications to passers-by on the street.

Thwarting a new Beslan. "Azerbaijan Says Thwarts Plot to Attack School," from Reuters, March 29:

BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan said on Monday it had detained eight people including a Chechen man on suspicion of planning "terrorist acts" against a school and kindergarten in the capital of the oil-producing Caucasus state.

Secular authorities in mainly Muslim Azerbaijan, a tightly controlled former Soviet republic, are concerned over what they say is the rising influence of radical Islam and the threat posed to the country's oil-fuelled economic growth.

Some analysts warn of potential spillover from an insurgency in neighbouring Russia's mainly Muslim southern republics, where suspicion fell on Monday after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on the Moscow metro killing 38 people.

Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry said police had arrested eight members of an "organised criminal group, crossing illegally from Georgia into Azerbaijan with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts."

A ministry statement said seven were Azeris, including three women, and the eighth was from Russia's southern Chechnya republic.

It said the group had earlier concealed weapons and ammunition in the roof of a kindergarten and a school in the capital Baku and planned to attack both. The suspected ringleader is still at large, it added....