Sounds that TEAS don’t want you to hear...
Beneath the jazz and chatter, Azerbaijani voices are demanding to be heard
“The Azerbaijani government is engaged in a deliberate, abusive strategy to limit dissent” - Human Rights Watch Offshore leaks have revealed that the Azeri elite are siphoning off revenues from Azerbaijan’s oil and gas industry to offshore bank accounts. There are over 100 political prisoners in Azerbaijan, including two prominent opposition candidates whose imprisonment has forced them out of the Presidential elections.
Critical voices are punished and silenced by the Aliyev regime– there is almost no independent media; most newspapers and nearly all TV channels are controlled by the government. The Aliyev regime is resorting to greater violence and repression as it faces a new generation of social media savvy democracy activists. Peaceful protests are repeatedly broken up with beatings, water cannon and arrests. The Presidential Elections on 9 October will be neither free nor fair.
TEAS silence dissent, one drinks reception at a time
The London-based European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS) is one of the most well-funded lobbying operations in Europe. The organisation is closely associated with the Aliyev regime. The President of TEAS is Taleh Heydarov, the son of Kamaladdin Heydarov, who was described in a US embassy cable leaked by Wikileaks as possibly “more powerful than the president himself… Heydarov controls more visible assets and wealth within the country than the president.”
TEAS use their wealth and connections to silence critical voices. They have funded several UK MPs on all expenses paid trips to Azerbaijan, including Mark Field, Christopher Pincher, Stephen Hammond and tonight’s host Gerry Sutcliffe. TEAS provides support to the Azerbaijani All Party Parliamentary Group,and in role as chair of the group, Pincher silenced UK parliamentary criticism of Aliyev’s repression. Revenues from oil and gas, which should belong to the citizens of Azerbaijan, are buying the silence of UK MPs.
This CD contains short extracts from silenced Azeri voices.
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