The week from October 3-7 saw the arrest of a colonel who made critical comments of the Ministry of Defense, Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to recognize each other’s sovereignty, and the issue of teachers’ pay in Azerbaijan
A colonel who criticized the Ministry of Defense was arrested
Reserve colonel Elnur Mammadov, who criticized the Ministry of Defense on social media in recent months, was arrested in a courtroom on October 6 at the Baku Military Court.
Elchin Aliyev was sued by the head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Defense, Elnur Mammadov. He filed a special prosecution case and demanded that Mammadov be punished under Article 147.2 of the Criminal Code (defamation by accusing him of a serious crime).
In his speeches, Mammadov talked about cronyism and nepotism as systemic within the Ministry of Defense. He also accused Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov.
The Ministry of Defense denied his claims and issued an official statement about it:
“Colonel Elnur Mammadov, who was released to the reserve due to his long-term oncological disease and appealed to the head of the country on the YouTube media sharing network, thinking about his personal interests and ambitions, has already taken such steps several times. It seems that this situation has become a habit in the military serviceman released to the reserve.”
Shortly after this announcement, the head of the legal department of the ministry filed a lawsuit in court.
Mammadov pleaded not guilty and said that he was punished for his critical speeches.
Elysee Palace: “Azerbaijan and Armenia recognize each other’s territorial integrity”
Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations (UN) Charter and the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration, which recognizes each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. They said that this will be the basis for the work of border delimitation commissions.
The statement of the Elysee Palace outlines the results of the quadrilateral meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, France and the European Union held on October 6 .
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met on October 6 in Prague at the invitation of the President of France and the Chairman of the Council of the European Union in the borders of the first European Political Union.
Azerbaijan-Armenia relations and border delimitation issues were also touched upon in the meeting.
At the meeting, Armenia also agreed to send a civilian EU mission to the border with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan declared that it agrees to cooperate with this mission: “The mission will start in October and will be implemented for a maximum period of two months. The purpose of the mission is to create trust between the parties and to contribute to the border commissions through their own reports.
The next meeting of border commissions is expected to be held in Brussels at the end of October.
Teachers’ salaries in Azerbaijan and worldwide
The executive secretary of the Republican Alternative Party (REAL), economist Natig Jafarli made the statement on the social network Facebook:
“Teachers built the foundation of the economic miracle of Japan and South Korea. Today, one of the most prestigious professions in Japan is school teaching – teachers who have just started teaching are hired with a salary of 5,900 manats (manat equivalent foreign currency – ed), the average salary of school teachers is 6,985 manats, and the salary of those with more than 10 years of experience starts at 8,325 manats.
“The average monthly salary of school teachers in Azerbaijan is 605 manats. The foundation of the future of any country is built within schools and education. Education has an effect when it meets the demands of the economy, that is, the main client of education should be the economic model, and for this, a free and competitive economic model is needed, and a free and competitive economic model is impossible without a fair trial.”
October 5 is International Teachers’ Day.
