A lion’s share of migrants coming to Azerbaijan are citizens of Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and Turkey, head of the Center for Legal Assistance to Migrants, Alovsat Aliyev, said. As for those leaving the country, the overwhelming majority of Azerbaijani nationals head to the giant northern neighbor Russia to work. According to informal reports, there are currently up to 2 million Azerbaijanis in the neighboring country, four times the amount cited in official figures. The State Statistics C...... полностью

2008 has been announced the Year of Heydar Aliyev in Kyrgyzstan. Events on studying late Azerbaijani president’s political heritage will be held in other Turkic states as well, said Nusrat Mammadov, chairman of the Public Fund for Support to Turkic States’ Policy. He said that a recently published calendar for 2008 with photos depicting Aliyev’s life and activities will be presented during the second conference “The role of political leaders in development of Turkic states in the 20th century...... полностью

The governor of California, US, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has sent a letter to Azerbaijan’s Chief Consulate in Los Angeles, expressing his gratitude for the country’s assistance to prevent arsons that took place in California last month. “On behalf of our state’s lawmakers, firefighters, law-enforcers, charity organizations and thousands of Californians, we thank the leadership of Azerbaijan for the assistance in preventing the destructive arsons,” the letter said. The US governor also said ...... полностью

Top officials of a local body in the Binaghadi district of Baku have been arrested on graft charges. Chairman of the municipality in the Rasulzada settlement, Majnun Aliyev, head of the economy department Nizami Azizov, and municipality member Aydin Ismayilov are believed to have taken bribes of large quantity. The Prosecutor-General’s Office department in charge of grave crimes is investigating the case. The law enforcers have instituted criminal proceedings.*... читать

Azerbaijani law enforcers have detained several members of a criminal group engaged in smuggling drugs from Iran to Azerbaijan, in another such incident in the past months. The outlaws - two Iranian and five Azerbaijani nationals – were nabbed in an operation carried out by the National Security Ministry. In addition to over 5 kg of heroin, large quantities of weaponry were impounded from the criminals, including a sub-machine gun, bullets and rounds. Investigators have ascertained that Iran...... полностью

The leader of Azerbaijan’s cellular communications market Azercell has announced a new campaign for its users. The campaign enables all of the company’s subscribers using the Simurq service to use GizletCELL (hide your number from the recipient) when downloading any content for one month free of charge. It will last from December 1 through December 31, the company said. Azercell Telecom JV launched Simurq, a unique cellular communication product in Azerbaijan, on its 10th anniversary, nearly...... полностью

The Lotos center working to address problems of the disabled held an exhibition-sale of creative works by teenagers and young people with limited abilities on December 3-4 with the support of Azerbaijan’s cellular operator Bakcell and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The exhibition at the Children’s World Gallery named after Tofig Ismayilov, dedicated to the International Day of Disabled Persons, demonstrated the abilities and versatile interests of youngsters, as well as their desire of bei...... полностью

The Tajik parliament ratified on Wednesday an agreement on cancellation of visa regulations between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan, a local news agency reported. In accordance with the agreement, which was signed during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Dushanbe in March 2007, citizens of the two countries can travel with an international passport and live there within 90 days. The term of stay can be extended in compliance with the two countries’ laws.*... читать

Deputy head and several officers of the High Military School after Heydar Aliyev have been sacked. The dismissals are linked with the October 9 clash between scores of school cadets and rank-and-file citizens near the Ahmadli subway station in Baku, according to www.milаz.info website. The dismissed persons include the principal’s deputy in charge of disciplinary affairs, Col. Ilgar Khanahmadov, and a battalion commander. Khanahmadov was succeeded by Col. Aydin Eyyubov, who had previously...... полностью

An Iranian delegation led by chairman of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee international humanitarian organization, Huseyn Anvari, arrived in Baku late on Monday. The visit aims to study the needs of refugees and displaced persons as well as low-income people in Azerbaijan for humanitarian assistance and get familiar with the execution of humanitarian and development projects being implemented by the Committee. During the four-day visit, Anvari is expected to attend the opening of a medic...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s leading cellular operator Azercell has introduced a new dialing code. The second operator code, 051, will be used before the cell phone number from now onward, along with existing one, 050. The measure was necessitated by the provider’s rapidly growing clientele, which has already exceeded 2.8 million, the company’s general manager Halim Ates told the presentation ceremony on Thursday. “73% of the country’s mobile communication users are now our subscribers, and their number...... полностью

Officers of the French gendarmerie monitored the exercises held on Thursday by the Azerbaijani Interior Troops in a range located in the northern Khizi District. The French delegation, which has been in Azerbaijan since Monday on a fact-finding visit, also visited the military units of the internal troop’s Baku garrison. French gendarmeries will visit military units in neighboring Guba District and meet with Commander of Interior Troops, Lieut.-Gen. Zakir Hasanov on Friday.*... читать

The number of Peace Cops Volunteers working in Azerbaijan will increase in 2008, its Director Ronald Tshetter said. The Peace Corps, which was founded in 1961 by US President John Kennedy, has volunteers in 74 countries throughout the world. 181 Volunteers of the Peace Corps, which came to Azerbaijan in 2003 at the invitation of late President Heydar Aliyev, have worked in the country so far. 85 Volunteers are currently working within projects on teaching of English, community economic develo...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s cellular provider Bakcell has presented a new tariff within the network as part of its commitment to bring useful novelties to its customers. Starting from November 1, Cin Kart (Gin Card) users will talk 3 seconds for every 2 talk units, which means that every third second of call time with any Bakcell subscriber will be free. Klass (Class) subscribers have gained a 25% discount for calls within Bakcell’s network. The discount is applied to all four tariffs of Klass except th...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s leading cellular provider Azercell has launched roaming services with Argentinean Telecom Personal SA operator. This is Azercell Telecom JV’s third such deal inked with Argentinean mobile companies. Azercell’s subscribers are already enjoying the services of Argentine’s CTI Compania de Telefonos del Interior S.A operator. The company has signed 342 roaming agreements with operators from 140 countries so far.*... читать

Azerbaijan and Russia will sign an agreement on cooperation in the area of labor migration shortly, the labor ministry official said. Rauf Taghiyev, the head of the Labor and Social Security Ministry’s department, said that the agreement drafted by Russian and Azerbaijani experts envisioned regulating labor migration between the two countries, i.e., protecting the rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani citizens and ensuring their social security. “If it becomes known what region of Russia Azer...... полностью

The rate of crimes relating to human trafficking is rising in Azerbaijan, amid intense competition among traffickers and more action being taken to crack down on such offenses. Research has revealed that in January-September 2007 related crimes grew 60.4% to reach 223. Nonetheless, 98.2% of human trafficking-related crimes have been disclosed so far, according to the Interior Ministry. Chairperson of the Temiz Dunya (Pure World) public association for assistance to women, Mehriban Zeynalo...... полностью

The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry is scrutinizing a recent road accident involving a Russian embassy car in Baku, Deputy Foreign Minister Vagif Sadygov said Thursday. The vehicle on October 27 ran into a taxi, killing the driver who was nearby. The driver, Elchin Gachayzada, died on the spot. The car belonging to the diplomatic mission was speeding, police officials said. The sources did not name the driver responsible for the accident. The Interior Ministry spokesman Sadyg Gozalov dismiss...... полностью

Representatives of over 50 countries gathered in Baku on Thursday for an international conference entitled Youth for the Alliance of Civilizations. The goal of the event is to bring to the fore the principle of solving all outstanding problems and conflicts not through military action and confrontation, but by civilized means, i.e. cultural dialog, and to realize this initiative with active involvement of young people who represent the future generation. The сonference was organized by the He...... полностью

Approximately one billion manats ($1.19 billion) will be spent for internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of the supplements made to the program on improving living standards of refugees and IDPs, and increasing employment rate, an official said. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on Wednesday on making supplements to the program. Chairman of the State Committee on Work with Refugees and Displaced Persons, Ali Hasanov, said that 700 million manats were spent over ...... полностью

President of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA), Ramiz Mirzayev, died at 53 in the early hours of Tuesday. He was laid to rest in the western Tovuz district. Mirzayev had been treated for cirrhosis in Israel for a long time, the spokesman for the association, Mikayil Narimanoglu, said. Mirzayev was elected president of AFFA in December 2003. He worked as the director of the Azerneftyag oil refinery in 2003-06 and had held the post of deputy minister of industry an...... полностью

Iranian youths intend to establish friendly relations with their Azerbaijani counterparts, an Iranian top official said. Iran’s Vice-President and head of the National Youth Organization Mohammad Javad Ali Akbari visiting Baku said he would make efforts to strengthen bilateral relations in the fields of science, research, sport and culture. “Our relations are on a high level and we have great potential to develop these relations,” he said. The Iranian official met with Azerbaijani Minis...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s leading cellular provider Azercell has prepared an interesting program for SimSim, GenjSim and BizdenBize subscribers offering endless opportunities. Azercell Telecom JV’s Maximum community has plenty of discounts in store for the customer. Its members will automatically receive 77 SMS and 77 MMS for free. To join this community, one should send the word “Maximum” to the short number 7777. Free messages are valid for 30 days, the company said. The Maximum community offers ot...... полностью

The European Court of Human Rights has issued another ruling on Azerbaijan, upholding a plea filed by the head of a local media watchdog. The chairperson of the Center for Journalistic Research, Sheida Nasibova, claimed that the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice had refused to register the organization that was set up in 2001 with a view to developing journalism and ensure freedom of media in the country. The European court ruled that the government is committed to pay 1,000 euros to the pl...... полностью

The Israeli government plans to hold talks with Azerbaijan next year on canceling visa regulations. Discussions are expected to kick off after such regulations are cancelled between Israel and Russia starting on January 1, 2008, Israeli Knesset (parliament) member Joseph Shagal said. He emphasized that the measure was promising for both countries in terms of considerable revenues from tourism. “We are talking about a lot of money here, as well as opening jobs,” the lawmaker said. Acc...... полностью

A new laboratory has been commissioned in Azerbaijan’s southern Lankaran District within a project on strengthening of preventive measures against the “bird flu”. The key goal of the $85,368 project implemented as part of the Japanese government’s Grassroots and Human Security Grant Assistance Program is to prevent the bird flue and other epidemics in the region and make a diagnosis of such diseases in time. The Japanese government has allocated $500,000 as a grant for reconstruction of v...... полностью

A woman dressing as a man to swindle large quantities of money has been detained in the Binaghadi district of Baku. The 27-year old Taleya Mammadova wearing a man’s suit had deceived people, saying that his sister was engaged in charity by helping low-income families to purchase apartments for affordable prices, investigators said. To carry out the goal, Mammadova got acquainted with a woman named Rena Huseynova and then said that she liked her daughter Shamsiyya. Introducing herself as ...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s leading cellular operator Azercell has launched a campaign that allows sending more SMS messages and gaining more SMS at the same time. Azercell Telecom JV subscribers will have a unique opportunity to participate in the SMS Days campaign starting from October 1 through December 31, 2007. After sending 10 SMS (five paid and five free), they could again send five paid SMS messages and then five free ones not only to the numbers within the network, but also in other directions, ex...... полностью

Production of substandard salt is a major problem for Azerbaijan, the UNICEF representative in the country says. Hanaa Singer told a scientific conference, “Non-iodized salt: problems and prospects,” on Thursday that experts in various countries have researched the use of iodized salt in households. The studies revealed that 87% of Azerbaijanis are suffering from iodine deficiency. At the same time, she said some positive changes have taken place in the country of late. The studies revea...... полностью

25 million manats ($21.2 million) has been allocated to the Mayor’s Office of Baku from the President’s Reserve Fund for improvement of the logistics of housing and communal services in the capital city. Under a presidential decree issued on Wednesday, the funds will be spent on purchase of special communal machinery for city and district executive powers.*... читать