{"id":2013,"date":"2016-04-04T12:06:26","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T12:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2013"},"modified":"2016-04-04T12:06:26","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T12:06:26","slug":"does-azerbaijans-ruling-family-feature-in-the-panamapapers-leak-of-course-it-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2013","title":{"rendered":"Does Azerbaijan&#8217;s Ruling Family Feature in the #PanamaPapers Leak? Of Course it Does!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By ARZU GEYBULLAYEVA<br \/>\n<em>Global Voices<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The\u00a0trending hashtag <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PanamaPapers?src=hash\">#PanamaPapers<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/2016\/04\/03\/panama-papers-huge-leak-of-offshore-records-implicates-russian-ukrainian-presidents\/\">massive\u00a0volume\u00a0of documents associated with\u00a0it<\/a> is a\u00a0non-seasonal\u00a0gift for anti-corruption geeks that enjoy pouring over the exotic financial connections\u00a0of\u00a0the world&#8217;s infamous and powerful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Unsurprisingly ex-Soviet Azerbaijan&#8217;s graftprone ruling\u00a0Aliyev family features quite prominently in \u201can unprecedented investigation that reveals the offshore links of some of the globe\u2019s most prominent figures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The\u00a0leak affects clients of, and persons connected by paper trail to, the\u00a0Panama-based offshore services firm\u00a0Mossack Fonseca.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to\u00a0their proponents, the Panama Papers are \u201c11.5 million leaked files to expose the offshore holdings of world political leaders, links to global scandals, and details of the hidden financial dealings of fraudsters, drug traffickers, billionaires, celebrities, sport stars and more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now, like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/julian_assange_why_the_world_needs_wikileaks?language=en\">leaks before them,<\/a> the\u00a0Panama Papers\u00a0are set to feed the global media machine for weeks, months and possibly longer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The documents were initially received by the German newspaper S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">A family affair<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev&#8217;s reputation for corruption goes before him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In fact, he was celebrated in 2013 as the OCCRP&#8217;s \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.occrp.org\/index.php\/en\/press-box\/1772-occrp-names-aliyev-qperson-of-the-year-q\">Person of the Year<\/a>\u2018. Unfortunately,\u00a0this wooden spoon award did nothing to knock\u00a0him or his closest relatives off track.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Members of the\u00a0Aliyev dynasty in power in Azerbaijan\u00a0since before independence who\u00a0are mentioned in the Panama Papers leak\u00a0include:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><strong>Mehriban Aliyeva<\/strong>,\u00a0the first lady\u00a0and\u00a0head of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation charity named after Azerbaijan&#8217;s first president and Ilham&#8217;s father.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Leyla Aliyeva<\/strong>, Ilham and Mehriban&#8217;s younger daughter and a queen of the glamour scene in capital\u00a0Baku.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arzu Aliyeva<\/strong>, Ilham and Mehriban&#8217;s eldest\u00a0daughter, who has stakes in a company that operates a gold mine among other interests.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heydar Aliyev<\/strong>,\u00a0Ilham and Mehriban&#8217;s son.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sevil Aliyeva<\/strong>, Ilham Aliyev\u2019s London-based sister.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to #PanamaPapers data mapped by the ICIJ, matriarch Mehriban took a\u00a0leading role in\u00a0one\u00a0of the ownership schemes set up\u00a0with Mossack Fonseca&#8217;s help:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_565717\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-565717 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-04-at-08.04.53-618x600.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-04-at-08.04.53-400x388.jpg 400w, https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-04-at-08.04.53-618x600.jpg 618w, https:\/\/globalvoices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-04-at-08.04.53.jpg 706w\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2016-04-04 at 08.04.53\" width=\"618\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Image is a screenshot from icij.org, a panamapapers partner outlet.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In 2005, President Aliyev&#8217;s wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, was named as one of two managers of the Panamanian UF Universe Foundation, incorporated in 2003. Under a complex proposal submitted to Mossack Fonseca in 2005, UF Universe Foundation would have ultimate control of AtaHolding, a major Azeri conglomerate. The 2005 proposal named President Aliyev&#8217;s three children in addition to other senior members of Azerbaijan&#8217;s tax office as beneficiaries. Two secretive companies central to this proposal were established through Mossack Fonseca although it is unclear whether or not the proposal was ever adopted. The UF Universe Foundation was inactivated in January 2007, but in January 2014, its representative asked Mossack Fonseca to reactivate it. In addition, Aliyev&#8217;s daughters controlled a Panama-incorporated company and two others in the British Virgin Islands. The Panamanian company held a significant stake in a consortium of companies exploring goldfields in Azerbaijan. Aliyev&#8217;s sister was the sole shareholder and owner of a BVI company registered in December 2005. Registration records list her at an address in a West London neighborhood where average home prices touch $9 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In light of these revelations, many have questioned the timing of a massive April 2 Azeri offensive on positions occupied by Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region the two countries\u00a0contest:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"716746891971702784\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Exposing the norm<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In\u00a0reality, however, this latest leak would be\u00a0unlikely to make a\u00a0splash in the\u00a0country, even if there wasn&#8217;t a boiling conflict underway involving the national army.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After all, Azerbaijan is a republic\u00a0where the corruption of the ruling family is assumed rather than challenged, and media freedoms are significantly suppressed by the authoritarian regime.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Indeed,\u00a0for those that dare to attempt to dig up dirt\u00a0at home, jail awaits.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Azerbaijan\u2019s brightest investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova did much to bring to light the\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rferl.org\/content\/azerbaijan_president_aliyev_daughters_tied_to_telecoms_firm\/24248340.html\">spheres of influence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cdominance\u201d of the Aliyevs in the national economy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ironically, it is Ismayilova who is now serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for \u201ctax evasion\u201d and \u201cabuse of power\u201d,\u00a0the\u00a0very\u00a0charges she levelled at the entrenched regime.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Beyond the tangle of offshore companies linked to the family through the #PanamaPapers leak, the Aliyevs are known to be the owners\u00a0of Azerbaijan\u2019s largest mobile phone company,\u00a0Azerfon, and key shareholders\u00a0in the Silk Way Group, a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.silkwaygroup.com\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=103&amp;Itemid=192&amp;lang=en\">state-endorsed<\/a>\u00a0\u201cleader in the private sector of Azerbaijani economy\u201d that\u00a0controls 23 enterprises including\u00a0the country\u2019s airline company AZAL, Silkway travel, Silkway ground handling, the Duty Free stores at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Silkway Bank, Sky Catering, Sheraton Baku and other important entities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite having\u00a0oil wealth to burn the government has done little to address huge inequality and poverty in the country of 10 million, which increasingly appears to be a playground to indulge the\u00a0hobbies of the family&#8217;s various members.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sports fan Heydar Aliyev, 18, for instance, is seen as the driving force behind the\u00a0decision to host the\u00a0Formula 1 European Grand Prix race, which will come to Baku for the first time in June.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The country has committed itself to a\u00a010-year contract with the sport&#8217;s main organising body and will have to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.trend.az\/azerbaijan\/society\/2491434.html\">pay<\/a> a hefty fine if it fails to uphold its hosting obligations in the next five years.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Commenting on\u00a0the suitability of Azerbaijan as a Grand Prix host journalist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.motorsport.com\/f1\/news\/analysis-azerbaijan-s-plan-to-make-the-f1-race-pay-off\/\">Kate Walker<\/a> wrote that the plan appeared\u00a0\u201csomewhat misguided. The cost of hosting a grand prix runs to the tens of millions of dollars per annum, and that\u2019s without considering the costs of erecting a street circuit on an annual basis. With only 9,500 hotel rooms in Baku, the capital offers limited accommodation for prospective tourists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Art is another key area of regime interest. Leaked\u00a0US embassy <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/us-embassy-cables-documents\/245758\">cables<\/a>\u00a0from 2010 revealed that the powerful Pashayev\u00a0family from\u00a0which First Lady Mehriban hails controls the impressive\u00a0Museum of Modern Art in Baku, while Aliyeva herself even wanted to build a\u00a0Guggenheim museum along Baku\u2019s waterfront.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mercifully for the state budget, the project never went ahead.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The\u00a0#PanamaPapers have\u00a0huge stories to tell over the\u00a0next two weeks of leak-related reporting, and citizens of the former Soviet Union will be paying close attention along with the global media scrum.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But for disillusioned Azerbaijanis already well-acquainted with the machinations of the Aliyevs, there is unlikely to be anything that shocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>By ARZU GEYBULLAYEVA Global Voices The\u00a0trending hashtag #PanamaPapers and the massive\u00a0volume\u00a0of documents associated with\u00a0it is a\u00a0non-seasonal\u00a0gift for anti-corruption geeks that enjoy pouring over the exotic <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=2013\" title=\"Does Azerbaijan&#8217;s Ruling Family Feature in the #PanamaPapers Leak? Of Course it Does!\">[more &gt;&gt;&gt;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-azerbaijan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2016,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions\/2016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}