STRUGGLES IN THE MAKING OF A STATE: AZERBAIJAN

By Sabah Aslam

The early part of 20th century witnessed the collapse of the Russian Empire. This big fall of Russian Revolution 1917 led to chaos and unrest in all parts of the state including Azerbaijan. Hence under the slogan of ‘struggle against the counter-revolutionaries’ in March 1918, the Baku Commune of Armenians and Bolsheviks decided to completely eliminate the ethnical Azerbaijanis. Thus, the Armenians acted atrociously and killed thousands of innocent Muslims. That throbbing history is imprinted on the memory of the Azerbaijanis forever and it has left indelible marks on the history pages to give Azerbaijan a real boost to rise against all the odds and prove its substance, subsequently, it is beaming today with multidimensional colors of success and glory amongst the comity of nations. It was an opportunity availed in time and today that all Azerbaijanis hold the flag of grace for the generations to come and follow the footprints of this venerable legacy.  

Coming back to the history, the only option for Azerbaijanis to stop that violence against them was to establish their own very State. So, the Muslim National Council held its opening sitting in Tiflis (presently Tbilisi, Georgia) on May 28, 1918, and adopted the Declaration on Independence.  And subsequently the establishment of an independent Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in south and southeast Transcaucasia was announced. The 1918 declaration became the first Constitutional Act in the history of Azerbaijan and affirmed Azerbaijani statehood in the form a Democratic Republic. On June 16, the National Council and the cabinet of the ADR got relocated to Ganja – the second biggest city of Azerbaijan. The primary goal of the government was to liberate Baku and the other cities of Azerbaijan, which were under occupation of Armenians and Bolsheviks after the March 1918 genocide.

The mission was carried out by the newly established Caucasus Army of Islam - united Azerbaijani and Turkish forces. Afterwards, twenty thousand Baku Soviet troops launched an all-out attack on Ganja. The Islamic Army entered a fierce battle with them. The Soviets were defeated and the Islamic Army advanced toward Baku and got it liberated on September 15, 1918. Over a thousand of Muslim officers and soldiers laid down their lives in the Baku battle. The losses of the enemy were huge. 

The capital of ADR shifted from Ganja to Baku and on November 16, 1918, the Azerbaijan National Council resumed its function. On December 7, 1918, the first session of Azerbaijani parliament took place. That was the first parliament formed on the utmost democratic principles of that time in the entire Muslim East. Not only a true form of multi-party republican government was created, but also extended the suffrage (right to vote) to all persons, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or gender.  ADR was the first country in the entire Muslim world to give voting rights to women, even ahead of such advanced western democracies like the United States and the United Kingdom. It also guaranteed freedom of expression, assembly and religion, among many other liberties to the citizens of Azerbaijan. 

The Supreme Council of the Paris Peace Conference on January 11, 1920 unanimously resolved to recognize de facto independence of Azerbaijan. Despite the lack of any previous experience in statecraft, the leadership of the ADR managed to form a well-operated state machine, establishing relations with more than twenty countries of the world, including Turkey, UK, USA, Italy, France Belgium, Holland, Greece, Denmark, etc. The Government adopted a national flag with white crescent and eight-pointed star with a three-stripe background. On June 26, the Government enacted the establishment of Azerbaijan Armed Forces. The process of army build up was completed by January 30 to include 30,000 of infantry and 10,000 of cavalry troops.

Functioning economy and independent financial system started to evolve. Educational reforms began, the Baku State University was founded; roughly half of the schools switched to use Azerbaijani language, which became a compulsory subject; hundreds of young students received scholarships to study in leading European universities. Preparations for constitution, development of comprehensive doctrine of national state building, and the criminal code with guarantees of universal rights and freedoms were under way. Bilateral formal relations were established with a number of foreign states and independent foreign policy reflecting the national interests of Azerbaijan was formulated and pursued. The Government established an extraordinary investigation commission to scrutinize the acts of genocide of Azerbaijanis by Armenians, adopted the official state symbols and regulation on Azerbaijani citizenship. The separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers was also confirmed. The establishment of Chamber of Appeals and Intelligence department became the vital pillar of the state-building process. The Baku-Batum oil pipeline was restored in 1919; the government issued a decree on free trade and gave a rebirth to the merchant fleet. The Caspian fleet of Azerbaijan was established in summer of 1919 as well.

The ADR fell under the military attack of Soviet Russia on 28 April, 1920. The resistance movement of Azerbaijani people was squashed. All government institutions of Azerbaijan were abolished. The independence of Azerbaijan was restored only after 71 years. The tri-colored flag with a white crescent and eight-pointed star of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic rose again.

Today, Azerbaijan is witnessing a rapid and dynamic development that is comparable with developed countries of the world. Rich of hydrocarbon reserves, the country exports them to Europe consequently taking part in ensuring of its energy security.  Having taken advantage of its geographical  location,  Azerbaijan became not only a main  point  for transportation of  crude and gas to Turkey and Europe  via diverse pipe-line net, but a transport corridor linking East with West as well.  A country with nine and a half million population has become a leading power in Transcaucasia and a main regional investor, financing multi-billion projects in different countries of the world. The economic growth of Azerbaijan goes accompanied by enormous construction boom, development of the industry, infrastructure, agriculture, sports, and tourism.

Azerbaijan carries on a balanced foreign policy, based on the interests of the country. Situated on the geographical border of Europe and Asia, Azerbaijan is integrated in the political structures of both continents. Being a member of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, Azerbaijan plays an active role in the OIC, ECO. It is also a member of Non-Aligned Movement, and last year completed its tenure as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council. 

Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy close and cordial relations characterized by shared perception on major global and regional issues.   The two countries signed number of agreements to provide a framework for bilateral cooperation in all spheres including economy, trade, finance, information, culture and military fields. Both countries closely cooperate in international forum and support each other on their core issues.

The writer is Executive Director of the Islamabad Institute of Conflict Resolution.

Geo TV premeditated assault on ISI

 Asif Haroon Raja

    On April 19, 2014, Geo TV anchor and senior journalist Hamid Mir was attacked by unknown assailant (s) in Karachi when he was travelling in a car from the airport to Geo office. Out of 12 bullets fired, six bullets pierced his abdomen and legs. The driver who remained unscathed drove him to the hospital where he is currently under treatment and reportedly is out of danger. Such gory attacks by unidentified terrorists are a common phenomenon in Karachi where daily score of the target killers ranges from 6-12. Despite Rangers-Police combined targeted operation since last September, the gory practice has not been controlled. The dastardly attack on Hamid Mir is condemnable and we pray for his early recovery.

    While the attack on Hamid Mir was undoubtedly reprehensible, the unethical reaction of Geo TV was more shameful. Ironically, the Geo News channel’s onslaught began with a vengeance within hours of the incident when even on-spot inspection of the site and preliminary investigation had not been carried out and FIR was not registered. It seemed as if the TV channel was already waiting in readiness to spring into action and start a willful malicious media campaign against the DG ISI, ISI as an institution and the Army. What was detestable was that the photo of DG ISI was repeatedly flashed during the over 8-hour program aired without a break, indirectly holding him responsible for the attack. Ansar Abbasi in his exuberance demanded immediate resignation of DG ISI.

    Even a layman could make out that the program aired by Geo TV had been stage-managed and pre-meditated with the sole objective of tarnishing the image of DG ISI and ISI. The hidden purpose behind the vilification program was to create a gulf between the armed forces and the people of Pakistan in general and the government and the defence establishment in particular. The whole lot of tutored anchors trained their guns on the ISI and based their arguments on the statement of the brother of Hamid Mir who stated soon after the incident that Hamid had secretly expressed his fears within his family members and close friends and his employer that he was receiving threats from ISI and in case he was murdered, DG ISI Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam would be responsible. Surprisingly, none of the analysts bothered to consider any other possibility.

    Neither Hamid nor any of his family member or his organization deemed it fit to register an FIR, or even a complaint that he was facing life threat. If he was facing life threats, how come he was moving around so freely and boldly without a guard? Why did he continue to remain in an offensive mode and repeatedly put the blame of missing persons on intelligence agencies despite the threats? His body language and facial expressions never indicated any signs of stress. Some say, the time bomb found strapped under his car last year was a ploy to increase his popularity rating and ISI threat was also played up to enhance his rating. How come Hamid Mir and his TV channel came in bad books and felt threatened and none else? It meant something was wrong somewhere. Is it not true that the Geo in its blind urge to make big money has crossed the red lines and all limits of decency?

    Over a period of time, Geo TV has earned the reputation of being more of an Indian channel than a Pakistani channel promoting Indian themes/ agenda and maintaining an anti-Islam and anti-Pakistan stance. As opposed to spiteful role of Indian media against Pakistan, Geo TV stance towards India has always been soft and friendly. Jang Group owned by Mir Shakil-ur Rahman co-hosts highly controversial Aman-ki-Asha program with India which is RAW funded. Ansar Abbasi, one of the journalists of Geo News has recently come out with a bizarre revelation that Aman-ki-Asha is ISI funded. Geo TV and ‘The News/Jang’ newspapers are known for promoting secularism, creating rifts between the institutions and sowing seeds of doubts/ misgivings over settled issues like ‘Two-nation’ theory, Objectives Resolution, ideology of Pakistan, and making Quaid-e-Azam controversial by projecting him as a secular.

    While Geo TV glamorizes Hamid Mir, he is looked down upon by many for his anti-Army/ISI/FC stance, for espousing the cause of separatists wanting to make Baluchistan independent, overplaying missing persons issue and for his pro-India posture. In early 2009, while the then government was denying that Ajmal Kasab, falsely implicated by India in Mumbai attacks case in November 2008, was a Pakistani, Hamid Mir took the Geo team to a village in Punjab and broke the story that Kasab was a Pakistani born and brought up in village Faridkot. He sold the story despite the villagers showing their ignorance about Kasab. That way he strengthened India’s handle to beat Pakistan with.

    He is the one who blamed the ISI for burning down Ziarat Residency and would have kept spitting venom had BLA not claimed responsibility. Reportedly, he had poisoned the ears of Asian Tigers, a group affiliated with TTP who had taken late Col retired Sultan Amir Tarar, popularly known as Col Imam and Squadron Leader retired Khalid Khawaja hostage in March 2010. Based on the information given by Hamid Mir on a phone that Khawaja was an ISI agent and unreliable, the captors killed both of them in January 2011.

    ISI bashing by the Geo TV was fully capitalized by the Indian media as well as the British media and the trio worked in tandem to discredit ISI. Let it be known that the ISI is a world famed organization which is second to none and its effectiveness has been acknowledged even by the traditional adversaries. Since its birth in mid 1950s, it has stood as a guard against inimical forces striving to harm Pakistan. It acts as the first line of defence for the armed forces and has valiantly kept the outreach of anti-Pakistan CIA-RAW-MI-6-RAAM-Mosad-BND nexus at bay since 2002 and is also supporting the security forces fighting the war in the northwest and separatist movement in the south zealously. In the process, large numbers of its members have lost their lives at the hands of foreign paid saboteurs.

    The Army and ISI are defending the motherland stretching from the peaks of Siachin in the north to the deserts of Sindh and barren hills of Balochistan in the south under extremely adverse conditions. Under extraordinary stressful conditions when the very existence of the country is under grave threat, putting the premier institutions faced with an existential threat under further stress and strain through slanderous media campaign is highly undesirable.  

    The adversaries of Pakistan consider the armed forces and the ISI as the only bottlenecks in their way to accomplish their sinister designs against Pakistan. The US has invested $ 60 million to buy the loyalties of Pak media while India and Israel too have invested heavy amounts to influence leading TV channels and newspapers. The Christian Science Monitor dated September 2, 2011 reported that two journalists belonging to ‘Express News’ and ‘Dunya News’ filing reports back home from Washington drew their salaries from the US State Department funding through a nonprofit intermediary. Despite their best efforts they have been unable to weaken the trunk of these two organizations.

    Apart from demonizing Islam and secularizing the society through media, the other major task of paid Pakistani journalists, anchors and pseudo intellectuals is to build perceptions and create hatred against the Army and ISI. The invisible hand of sabotage and subversion has caused incalculable damage to the fabric of the country. The agents of subversion are busy polluting the minds of the people and weakening the country under a well-defined agenda. Unfortunately, a section of media is playing into the hands of our adversaries of Pakistan for the sake of material benefits.

    It is indeed surprising that the head of ISI was callously attacked by the media barons for 8 hours and the government as well as PEMRA remained mum and paralyzed. Other TV channels acted more responsibly. Response of civil society is very encouraging. I have received dozens of messages condemning Geo TV. There are wide calls to block Geo TV for defaming ISI. A petition has been filed in a law court seeking registration of treason case against Jang & Geo Group and his owner Mir Shakilur Rahman and Amir Ali, brother of Hamid Mir. 

    Being the member of Executive Committee of PESS headed by Lt Gen Hamid Gul, I am in a position to feel the pulse of well over 2.5 million retired officers, JCOs, NCOs and men. They all are highly perturbed and resentful over the perverse role of media and inaction of the government in taking to task the black sheep within media and controlling the unruly and undisciplined media indulging in yellow journalism. Government’s inaction has given rise to suspicions about its intentions and motives.

    A judicial commission has been established to probe the incident and come out with its findings. Till the finalization of the report by the Commission, all concerned parties should exercise restraint and refrain from drawing hasty conclusions. PEMRA should come out of its hibernation and start managing the media houses and guide them that instead of indulging in sensationalism, defamation and spreading despondency, they should play a constructive role in bridging divides within the society and promoting harmony between the State institutions.

    The writer is a defence analyst, executive member of PESS, member of MEASAC Research Centre, Thinkers Forum Pakistan and Opinion Maker. asifharoonraja@gmail.com                              

GEO - Going for a Settlement?

By Ishaal Zehra

Although the Hamid Mir dramatic event is dying down its own death because of inability of people in charge of this act to prove their accusations, but they should not be given an easy escape because this incident has shook all the nook and corners of Pakistan, hurting the feelings of a large number of the Pakistani community not only in cantonment areas of Pakistan but throughout the Pakistani community around the globe. Question must be asked who or what gave confidence to a mere private TV channel, one of the dozens in Pakistan, to launch such a damaging campaign against a premier intelligence agency of the country — the ISI.

Hamid Mir, whose earlier plan was to go to Quetta, changed his plans at the last couple hours and instead came to Karachi. Even Karachi police wasn’t aware of his new plans. Only a couple people in GEO Karachi office in admin were aware, or, the people who forced him to come to Karachi instead Quetta knew that. Instead of blindly accusing Gen Zaheerul Islam, Geo should have done an internal investigation first, if Geo or Mir Shakeel ur Rehman themselves were not involved in this drama.

Agha Iqrar Haroon has been working with national and international media houses for the last 24 years. His tenure as journalists includes 8 years in print media and 16 years in electronic media. He writes: Who knew change of Hamid Mir plan to go to Karachi instead of Quetta? Hamid Mir had a plan to go to Quetta from Islamabad. He changed his plan and travelled to Karachi and from where he was supposed to travel to Quetta. Change of his travel plan was known only by his close circle—mostly Islamabad and Karachi office of Geo Television. This is one the lead for initial investigation in the case of attack on Hamid Mir. It may be mentioned that involvement of Geo staffers also came on surface on the face of Wali Khan Babar case.

A friend of mine opined: if victim (Hamid Mir) has a solid proof, then he has every right to name the culprit no matter if he or she is a President, Prime Minister or a General. Now, it’s up to him to present proof or get punishment for maligning a national institution. No criminal should be allowed to take refuge under sanctity of any institution. 

Practically all the senior Pakistani journalists/ columnists and anchorpersons, leaving a few who are already well known for their “Foreign Agendas”, have expressed concern over the organized campaign against the security agencies by a section of the media in the name of the attack, saying this is a clear violation of journalistic values and code of conduct.  Human Rights activist Asma Jahangir and prominent media persons like Ayaz Amir, Talat Hussain, Shazeb Khanzada, Haroon Rashid, Mubashir Luqman and all others condemned the GEO channel for its non-serious handling of the issue. None of them said that inquiry should not be done but there are journalistic ethics to report any incident and verification of news with supporting proof should be there before establishing a fact. Interestingly, political parties are also against the way GEO has handled this episode. PMLN, though, apparently joined hands with PTI against GEO’s adventurism but the fact remains that they have not done anything credible to reprimand the doers.

Voice of Journalists say, new revelation in the GEO-ISI saga has come into light and it is alleged that Ansar Abbasi, a reporter of Jang/Geo news, secretly visited PEMRA office to draft the PEMRA notice against Geo. It is the same notice which was sent out to Geo after the Ministry of Defense sent a complaint against the said media house for bringing disrepute to state agencies.

It is alleged that Mr. Abbasi went to PEMRA office on 23rd April night around 2:18 AM and prepared the draft and or helped in drafting the show cause notice which was then sent to Geo. It is alleged that different versions of the drafts were discarded for being strong worded. The final draft version was then approved and sent out to Jang/Geo media house.

If matters are really moving the way they are being reflected then things are fishy inside the government machinery. PMLN government must check the status and take serious notice before the seriousness of the matter checks them instead. Rest assured, Pakistan really knows how to tackle its problems.

The Man Who Steered His Nation to the Pinnacles of Glory

  Sabah Aslam

The name of Mr. Heydar Aliyev is progressively linked with the socio-political, economic and cultural uplift of the people of Azerbaijan, who has been able to leave indelible marks to change the successful course of history into the very lap of his nation, which is indisputably indebted to his unflinching efforts for the people of Azerbaijan.  He was a leader of the nation providing them hope and optimism in the era of despair and distrust. With his wise and foresighted policies, the great Azerbaijani leader has become an icon of honour, the architect of what Azerbaijan is today; independent, economically developed and strategically important amongst community of nations. President Heydar Aliyev was instrumental in playing an indispensable role in keeping the country united, independent and sailing smoothly on a steady path of economic development. Being a charismatic leader with impressive grasp of politics, he made all efforts to make his country important in the eyes of the west and equally secure relations with the east. Soon after becoming President of the country, the visionary leader was able to elevate the country’s status as an important global player.

Mr. Heydar Aliyev was born on 10 May 1923 in Nakhchivan city of Azerbaijan. Having started his professional carrier from Internal Affairs Division he later got shifted to the state security bodies where raised up to the chairman level in1967. In July, 1969 Mr. Aliyev became the head of the Azerbaijan SSR and in December 1982, First Vice Prime Minister of the USSR. He resigned from this post in October 1987, as a sign of protest against the policy pursued by Communist Party. 

On 20 January, 1990 Soviet troops stormed Baku killing unarmed civilians, who raised their voices against injustice made to them  Central Government. On the next day, Mr. H.Aliyev reached Azerbaijani Representation in Moscow and in his statement demanded to punish the organizers and perpetrators of this crime. In July, 1990, Mr. Aliyev was elected a member of Azerbaijan USSR Parliament and lead the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic’s Assembly.   Protesting the hypocritical policy of USSR leadership on Nagorno-Karabakh problem, in July 1991 Mr. Aliyev terminated his membership in the Communist Party.
     
On 15 June 1993, the day Mr. Heydar Aliyev assumed leadership at the persistent requests of the people at a time when the political, economic and social crisis of Azerbaijan’s independence brought it the brink of civil war. Mr. Heydar Aliyev was twice, on 03 October, 1993 and October 11, 1998, elected a President of Azerbaijan with overwhelming majority. The first years of Heydar Aliyev’s presidential tenure were most crucial. He became a President of the country with collapsed economy, internal and foreign rivals, with a neighboring Armenia occupying the districts of the unguarded country. In a short span of time, Mr. Aliyev formed a National Army, which was able not only to halt aggression but also liberate a significant part of the occupied lands.

One of the main achievements of Mr. Heydar Aliyev that paved way to the economic revival of the country was his oil strategy. It was based on making politically stable Azerbaijan with further attraction of the Western capital to the exploration of the huge on- and off-shore hydrocarbon reserves of the country and transportation them to the World markets via diversified routes.

On September 20, 1994, the oil contract, later called a “Contract of Century”, was signed with the Western oil companies in Baku. Neither coup attempt nor outside and inside pressures could break a will of the Azerbaijani leader.  This contract instilled a confidence to those who were full of doubts about the future of the newly born Republic.
As a part of the strategy it was decided to transport the hydrocarbons through different routes. Thus the Baku-Novorossiysk (Russia), Baku-Supsa (Georgia) oil pipelines were commissioned. Agreement for construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil and Baku-Tbilisi- Erzurum gas pipe-lines were also reached. Thus, Mr. Aliyev undertook the next important step for ensuring long-term political and economic interests of Azerbaijan.
The visionary Azerbaijani leader took active steps for making country a regional transport hub as well. An ambitious interstate programme TRACECA aimed at supporting the political development in Black Sea, Caucasus and Central Asia by means of development of the international transport.
The successful integration into the global economy, economic liberalization in the country, Azerbaijan’s growing credit rating, the annually increasing state budget and foreign exchange reserves are strong indications of a stable economy built by Mr. Aliyev since 1993. Development of the non-oil sector is also a result of President Aliyev’s vision. By handing over the land to private ownership, Mr. Aliyev ensured the country’s food security.

Construction of a democratic, law-governed state, development of civil society, return to the national and spiritual values as well as development of science, education and culture in Azerbaijan are forever linked with the name of late president of Azerbaijan. The adoption of the Constitution and the principle of powers separation, the alignment of the legal framework and national laws with international standards are integral parts of the program implemented under the leadership of Mr. Heydar Aliyev.

As a result of Mr. Aliyev’s activity, Azerbaijan, capitalizing on its geo-strategic, economic and cultural potential, started to play the role of a reliable bridge between the East and the West and become one of the most dynamic economies in the world.

Leader of Azerbaijan introduced a balanced foreign policy, based on the interests of the country. Azerbaijan got integrated into the political structures of the East and West both. His successful foreign policy contributed to the growing international authority of the country, which is now perceived as a reliable partner, and to its promotion as a reformist and ambitious state. That was also during the presidential tenure of Mr. Heydar Aliyev when Islamic values, which were not much welcomed during the Soviet era, started developing. Construction of new mosques, reconstruction of shrines, setting Islamic education institutions goes to his credit.

The establishment of Pakistan – Azerbaijan relations is also linked with the name of Mr. Heydar Aliyev. His meetings with the then President of Pakistan Mr. Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari and the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in1995 and 1996 accordingly, and agreements reached during the visits, formed a base of these ties.

President Aliyev passed away in on 12 December, 2003. People of Azerbaijan highly value the legacy of their National Leader. 15 June, the day when Mr. Heydar Aliyev returned to Baku is celebrated as a National Salvation Day. Heydar Aliyev Foundation lead by First Lady of Azerbaijan, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva with the main goal to implement large-scale projects and programs in line with the late President’s ideas of Azerbaijan's progress was established on 10 May, 2004. In the framework of Foundation’s activity abroad, the number of projects in education, health, humanitarians’ fields in all provinces of Pakistan were implemented.