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Aliyev clan is trying to create for himself a Western type image, but behind this facade lays corruption, rigged elections, violations of human rights, writes the French weekly “Le Point” in an article entitled “Aliyev dynasty or “caviar diplomacy” (Azerbaïdjan : la dynastie Aliev ou la diplomatie du caviar), Russian office of RFI agency reads.
The author [Guillaume Perrier] calls the recent exhibition of Parisian photographer Reza dedicated to Azerbaijan, a large PR-campaign financed by the petrodollars of the Heydar Aliyev foundation of Azerbaijan. “After Azerbaijan-Qatar is the second country in regard of active work with French parliamentarians,” the author writes.
As stated in the article the relations with France are a priority of foreign policy of Baku. Meanwhile, a number of deputies in the Council of Europe repeatedly criticize the “caviar diplomacy” of Baku. Azerbaijan invests not only in sports, but also in culture, financing the opening of Islamic culture department in the Louvre, the restoration of the Versailles castle, the cathedral of Strasbourg. “In this way the tough regime of Aliyev clan hopes to adhere the image of the Immaculate,” the author writes.
The author also notes that Baku is working towards the development of ties between universities. Diplomatic Academy of Baku is collaborating with the Institute of Political Sciences in Lille, and the Azerbaijani oil company SOCAR provides financial support for this project. “According to one of the former employees of the French Institute of Political Science, Science Po, Azerbaijan tried to finance the opening of Turkish-Azerbaijani department in this prestigious university, but this time it did not work,” emphasizes the “Le Point.”
The French publication notes that in May of this year, French President Francois Hollande during his tour to South Caucasus has had a meeting with a famous human rights activist in Baku, who was a member of the Legion of Honor – Leyla Yunus, but after some time she got arrested.
“Le Point” also recalls that in 2012 Baku organized a song contest “Eurovision”. The author calls all the preparatory work, as well as its result an “excessive luxury and poor taste”, adding that on the occasion of the organization of the Song Contest lot of old buildings in the city center have been destroyed and thousands of residents of the capital have been expelled from their homes without compensation. “The company which carried out the construction work, belonged to the Aliyev clan,” the author notes.
The author claims that Washington compares Aliyev clan with the clan of Corleone, as WikiLeaks leakage proves. “This kleptocracy has usurped the power and picked up vast resources of the country, which has a population of nine million people, without accounting to anyone,” writes “Le Point.”