By Vestnik Kavkaza
In Azerbaijan, everything is ready for the Oct. 9 presidential elections. According to the "Khalq Newspaper" and "Adalat”, covering the electoral process at the CEC, about 70 journalists representing 20 foreign media have been accredited. Throughout the country, with the exception of the occupied territories, at 1,000 polling stations of 119 constituencies video cameras were installed. Led by a member of the British Parliament Robert Walter, the PACE mission of 32 people will be on a visit to Azerbaijan to observe the elections from 7 to 10 October.
In the latest survey conducted by the Azerbaijani alliance of cooperation of NGOs, in 78 regions of the country, answering the question "Which of the presidential candidates do you trust the most?", 86.46 % out of 19,500 respondents mentioned the current President Ilham Aliyev, and his nearest rival , the candidate of the National Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Gasanly scored only 6.54 %. In other words, the media report, Aliyev has much more electoral chances of winning the marathon than other candidates. According to the newspaper " Teref" with reference to Reuters, the opponents of the 51 -year-old president acknowledged that they could not prevent his election to a third term for another 5 years .
According to the newspaper "Echo", Head of the Political Analysis and Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Elnur Aslanov said in an interview to Hurriyet Daily News that the Azerbaijani opposition in its political slogans stuck in the 1980s and does not feel the trends and demands of the modern day. He opposed the statements by the opposition the government's achievements over the past 10 years.
The newspaper says that the agitation opposition rally was held the day before in support of the presidential candidate of the National Council of Democratic Forces Jamil Gasanly. Deputy Executive Secretary of the "Yeni Azerbaijan" party Siyavush Novruzov noted that the meeting was unsuccessful , because this time twice as fewer people gathered than at the last meeting . "In addition”, Novruzov added, “he was not interesting, all the performances were commonplace, and during the speech of the Chairman of the party" Musavat " Isa Gambar part of the crowd of people left the square".
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In Georgia, as we approach the presidential election on October 27, political passions run high . The main newsmaker is the presidential candidate of the party "Democratic Movement - United Georgia" , the ex-speaker Nino Burjanadze. The Georgian Times newspaper reports that recenlty she proposed Parliament adopt the amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen responsibility for electoral fraud. Following the publication of the results of the survey conducted by the U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) on September 26, when only 7% of respondents predicted her victory in the elections , at the briefing Burjanadze said that, according to the available information, the coalition "Georgian Dream" and the party " United National Movement " conspired to do everything to prevent her presidency. Ex-speaker believes that her rating is higher than 39% of the candidate of the coalition "Georgian Dream" Georgi Margvelashvili who takes the first place in the opinion polls. In this regard, she initiated the creation of a unified sociological council, which should include those polling organizations which are not seen in bad faith cooperation with the political parties.
The newspaper notes that in August, the "PsychoProject" company surveyed 2,028 people in 11 regions; according to the results, the candidate of "Georgian Dream" Georgi Margvelashvili won in the first round, and second place went to David Bakradze of UNM. Burjanadze called then the results of this survey ridiculous and said that according to her information, "PsychoProject" is funded by the coalition of "Georgian Dream".
Burjanadze said that the presidential candidates in the race are at a disadvantage artificially created by the media and television. She is supported in this by the Labor Party leader Shalva Natelashvili . Burjanadze even sent an open letter to the chairman of the Georgian Parliament David Usupashvili , in which she pointed to the fact that the ruling coalition "Georgian Dream" and the pro-presidential "United National Movement" , which have no shortage of financial resources, effectively doubled the funding obtained from the budget through legislative changes and additionally have free time to place their commercials on TV. When both the ruling forces have full control over the electoral commission, having 22 thousand observers financed from the budget, as well as a powerful administrative resource of ministers and heads of local administrations included in their election campaigns, talking about an equitable and fair electoral environment is difficult.
According to Burjanadze, the representatives of presidential candidates from UNM and "Dream" in places of compact settlement of refugees carry out bribery, intimidation and blackmail, in private conversations, with the aim to influence them, disseminate information that supposedly, if they do not vote for their candidate, the refugees will not get legalized residential areas, and their eviction will begin and the issuing of monthly financial assistance will be stopped. According to her, the representatives of these parties collect lists of refugees voters and transfer to their families about 100 lari (about $60).
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In Armenia, President Serzh Sargsyan’s speech at the PACE session is widely discussed, which has become, according to the local newspaper "New Era" , the main event of the week for the country. As it was emphasized by the publication, almost all the political forces in the country, including the opposition, are unanimous in saying that the president very clearly outlined the priorities of Armenia's foreign policy in matters of European integration and accession to the Customs Union. One of the main messages of his speech was the fact that Armenia is now ready to sign an Association Agreement with the EU. In other words, it is an appeal to Europe not to consider the question of relations with Armenia in the plane of choice, that is, the choice between the Customs Union and the European Union .
In this regard, the expert of the Foundation of Military Studies of France Kayts Minasyan said in an interview with the newspaper "Aravot" that Armenia should try to convince the EU countries, in particular France and Germany, to sign a softer version in Vilnius between the EU and Armenia, which would not interfere with relations between Moscow and Yerevan, that is, a complementary policy should be conducted in two ways. "I think”, he said, “that if the Armenian diplomats will do a good job and try to persuade France and Germany as negotiators in the EU that there is no contradiction between the Customs Union and Association Agreement , it can be assumed that Armenia can become the country that will sign this contract as a member of the CU.
In turn, the “Yerkir” newspaper thinks that the authorities do not want to completely lose Europe, and they do it by using a demonstration of political will and determination on the issue of democratization of the country. This puts Europe in a difficult position, because it cannot ignore the aspirations of Armenia to Europeanization, especially since the authorities have not spared any effort in practice to "prove" the sincerity of their intentions. First, immediately after the declaration of Armenia's accession to the CU, the president has taken the initiative for constitutional reforms , as it was noted in the course of the speech at the PACE session . Second, Sargsyan has proposed an amnesty of prisoners , which was held just two years ago , and, most importantly, made the decision on early repayment of loan from Russia , seeking to show the desire to reduce the economic impact of Russia .
However, the newspaper writes, the Europeans also understand that they face a choice: shaking the outstretched hand of the Armenian authorities or completely abandoning Armenia. The consequences of the second embodiment may be dramatic both for the EU, because thus, it will surrender, refusing to fight against Russia for influence in Armenia, and for Armenia, losing the status of a subject of international politics. In the case of the first option, there is still a chance to keep leverage at the social level and the levels of government and, most importantly, to work with the community in order to re-adjust it
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The Dagestani media inform about the commissioning on the outskirts of the capital of the republic of the new high-tech coating plant with capacity of 160 tons per hour. It is reported that the new plant will run on natural gas. High ecological production is provided by special dust collectors and filters with a three-stage cleaning system of flue gases due to which dust collection efficiency is 99.7 - 99.85 %.
According to the newspaper "Dagenstani Pravda", the storage of bitumen is being built in the country with a capacity of 2000 tons. The experts say that to a large extent the quality of the asphalt mixture depends on the storage conditions . Until now, a part of the bituminous mixture was spoiled due to improper storage .
The deputy chairman of the government of Dagestan Abusupyan Harharov said that this plant is a big step towards the restoration of road infrastructure of the country. The road companies of Makhachkala and the surrounding areas are in urgent need of high quality asphalt mixtures.
The plant was built under the agreement between the government of the republic and the group of companies "Summa", according to which it will invest in the modernization of the road transport industry 700 million rubles. It is planned to build two more plants similar in power in Derbent and Kizlyar. This will completely cover the needs for high-quality asphalt of almost all low-lying parts of Dagestan. As required, the similar modern plants, but of less power will be built in mountainous areas.
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The Ingush Archaeological Center is sounding the alarm, the newspaper "Ingushetia" reports. Many archaeological and historical values can be destroyed due to the digging of trenches for installation of high voltage power lines conducted near the village of Ali -Yurt. There is a historical monument "Koar Boarzash" here - the so- called settlement in the hills to the north-east of the village of Ali -Yurt, where the staff of the Republican Archaeological Center conducted the study in 2000. Numerous finds discovered during excavations indicate the density of the population in the ancient town. This place was not just a settlement of several families. The ancient settlement " Koar Boarzash”, according to historians, is one of the common areas of the fortified perimeter of the ancient Magas (the prototype of the modern capital of the country). According to archaeologists, the remains of pottery found here belong to the Aland period from the fifth to the eighth century AD.
The publication cites the director of the archaeological center Umalat Gadiev, who argues that this place is not just valuable for the country and the people – it is a monument of federal significance. "We have to understand”, the scientist said, “that any object found in the lower layers of the soil can tell the scientists a lot. Careful study of all the artifacts will help restore the blank and hitherto unknown aspects of our native land and people and give them a legacy to future generations". He also noted that the legislation provides penalties for illegal actions with the objects of archaeological heritage.
