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Donkey Satire In Azerbaijan

July 10, 2009

 

We wrote yesterday about the arrests of two Azerbaijani youth activists. The video above, produced and distributed by the OL and AN youth movements, is the type of thing that likely got them into hot water.

The head of OL, Adnan Hajizada, is one of the two arrested.

In the video, members of OL are making fun of the government for its "waste" of oil money. After local media reported that Azerbaijan had imported two donkeys from abroad each for a price of $41,000, one of the donkeys holds a press conference:
 

Question: If you had the chance to be born again would you want to be born as a donkey?

Donkey: It depends where I would be born. It is difficult to be a donkey in Europe, and especially in Germany. But in Azerbaijan it's different. It is easy to be a donkey in Azerbaijan, because if you are one then you can move forward.

The donkey also comments on a recent restrictive NGO law, plays the violin, and then leaves to meet with other donkeys.

-- Azerbaijani Service
This forum has been closed.
     
Comments
by: RD
July 15, 2009 20:12
Atilla, if Azerbaijan treated its minorities as equals to its majority Azeris instead of persucating them, and in this case I refer to the Armenians who lived in Nagorno Karabakh, Armenians would have had no issues remaining under Azeri rule. As for the oil boom in Azerbaijan, Japan has no natural resources worth mentioning but has the world's second largest economy. Wealth of a nation is in its people and not what is in the ground. Azerbaijan may have 40 years of oil reserves and 100 years of gas reserves, but get off the main streets of Baku, the country and its citizens are deep in abject poverty.

by: Atilla from: Paris
July 15, 2009 08:36
RD, so did Armenia miss the opportunity to build the stable and sustainable economy and country too because of its continued invasion of Azerbaijan's soverign land and the expansionist policies of the political and economic elites of Armenians both in Armenia and in the world. You are referring to the Transparency International index on corruption, which in itself has serious flaws, but you don't mention that Armenia is even no included neither is considered worth (because of small economy, small market, poverty, and continued blockade that she has to blame herself no one else) to be included into the many social and economic indexes of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Goldman Sach's index, and others.

Lets, not talk through indexes with suspicious methodology and serious flaws, on the reality in the ground. Azerbaijan has the biggest economy, largest reserves, largest budget, largest army, largest population, the access route to both Europe, Asia, Russia, Iran and Turkey, crisis resilient economy, the oil reserves to last more than 40 years and gas reserves to last around 100 years, Armenia has no chance but better to solve its issues with Azerbaijan and get rid of its ultra-nationalist and expansionist policies which are based on suspicioues, questionable, unproven historical arguments based on "armenian greatness".

by: RD
July 13, 2009 18:38
Atilla, no one denies corruption in Armenia. No country in the world is corruption free. However, if you ever bother reading the yearly corruption perception index (CPI), you will notice Azerbaijan is considered to be a much more corrupt nation than Armenia. Armenia is 109th from the top versus Azerbaijan in 158th position. Read the CPI at the following site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
Having said this, my message was a message of sympathy to all those who cherish freedom of speech in Azerbaijan. Hence, you attacked the wrong topic. While you attack the wrong topic, the 800 oil companies in Azerbaijan that are all related to Ilham Aliev in one way or another, will squander more oil money while keeping your citizens in abject poverty. Steven Levine, author of Oil and Glory, deduces that Azerbaijan has missed the boat on using its petro dollars to build a non resource based economy.
RD

by: Atilla from: Paris
July 13, 2009 10:04
I don't see any problem with this video. It indeed shows that there is at least some level of democracy in Azerbaijan compared to Armenia ruled by a dictator elite regime which can kill its citizens and subject them to poverty, suffering and death through invasion of Azerbaijan's land for the sake of their own economic benefits. RD, I would recommend you to keep your recommendations for the dictator and ultra-nationalist economic and political Armenian elites both in armenia and in the world.

by: Tim from: Sydney/Australia
July 13, 2009 03:58
Congratulations, very funny,however not funny enough to be arrested for.I support young Azeris but not Governments who act like asses.

by: alex from: USA
July 12, 2009 16:21
atlest there are some people in AZERBEDJIAN,are awaken that all there oil money is going in to a pokect of some head people,pooor Azeris

by: Konstantin from: Los Angeles
July 11, 2009 23:48
Sure, Azerbaijan and Armenia should talk, About their differences - Turkish Armenia
Refused be independent for Russian "volks"
That sent them once to Tbilisi and Media.
Russians make breed and fight them both.

As for Russian Imperial "humor", Donkey,
Like British "pork" and "catle' bulets,
Shooting at the both, Russia's popets
Name both Alexander's Persia perverts,
Expanding Russ as Alexander's monkeys.

Russian "Empire', like the Macedonians,
Expanding empire and sabotaging NABUKO
Surcomvents Europe with Great Britania
And Germano-Austria pacts of "sukas",
Rearing by Seas as Homo of Macedonia.

Konstantin.


by: Talibov from: Naxcivan
July 10, 2009 20:02
Adnan and Emin are the future of Azerbaijan. We are proud of them. Aliyev's Donkey regime will go down like so many dicatorships around the world. ISTEFA (RESIGN)

by: RD
July 10, 2009 19:26
This is such an accurate video. Azerbaijani leadership will squander its reserves on futile expenditures such as paying $15 million to buy flowers to celebrate Heydar Aliev's birthday, when millions of Azeris live in abject poverty and buying hundreds of millions of dollars of weapons from Israel instead of attempting to resolve differences with Armenia diplomatically instead of militarily. Compromise and diplomacy may be difficult but much less costly than war. Paul Collier estimates that war, besides what you spend on arms, costs a country over $64 billion dollars in destruction, economic loss, loss of life, investment etc. Best advice to Azerbaijani leadership is to use your petro dollars on your citizens and building your ecnonomy and country. When your oil is gone, you will return to more abject poverty than where you started.
     
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