Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

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Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:24 pm

Special movement under the governmental support to be created in Azerbaijan for expansion of the information about the country in Wikipedia
abc.az, 2 September 2013 link
The Azerbaijan Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies creates social movement for expansion of the information about the country in online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

According to the Ministry, together with the Azerbaijan Association of Young Translators (AGTA) it will create VikiHərəkat (Wiki-Movement) movement intended for expansion of online encyclopedia content in Azerbaijani language. The movement will be supported by the International Relations and Accounting Center. The volunteers for participation in this movement will be attracted until the end of this year. At that, individual and collective participation is possible.

Also, within the framework of the project the instructors for volunteers will be trained for VikiHərəkat in Baku and other regions of the country (Ganja, Khachmaz, Lenkoran and Shirvan)

Organizing Committee of the movement can be reached by telephone numbers: +99412 497 80 09 and +99451 931 01 86.

The documents for participation in instructors training courses in Baku will be accepted on September 14-15.
In case you're tempted to give the Organizing Committee of the Wiki-Movement a call:

How not to prepare for an election
The Economist, 2 September 2013 link
The Azerbaijani opposition’s inability to wrest power from the all-powerful regime of Ilham Aliev (pictured) seems to have driven it into drug dependency. In the year between May 2012 and May 2013, the government charged six prominent critics with possession of narcotics. But police only found the drugs after arresting the suspects, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). They were far more interested in the defendants’ political activities than in any recreational highs. Drugs tests came back negative. The drugs busts are another example of how trumping-up charges—for drugs or weapons possession, hooliganism, incitement or even treason—is a favoured Azerbaijani tactic to silence government critics.

The government is intensifying its crackdown in the run-up to the presidential elections on October 9th, HRW contends. Take the treatment of critical journalists. In 2012 the government released several journalists from prison. But since the beginning of this year it has arrested at least six more. It uses threats, smear campaigns and violent attacks to force them to toe the line.

Recent changes in legislation underline this trend. Fines for participating in unauthorised protests have increased a hundredfold over the last year. Minor public-order offences now carry maximum jail sentences of 60 days, up from 15. A new law that criminalises online defamation could lead to prison sentences of up to three years.
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Hereditary President for Life Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev
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Re: Is Azerbaijan is the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by thekohser » Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:39 pm

So far, there doesn't seem to be any direct connection between VikiHərəkat and the Wikimedia Foundation or Jimbo. But, Tony Blair is definitely connected to Azerbaijan in a very Jimbo-esque way.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan is the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Moonage Daydream » Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:42 pm

thekohser wrote:So far, there doesn't seem to be any direct connection between VikiHərəkat and the Wikimedia Foundation or Jimbo. But, Tony Blair is definitely connected to Azerbaijan in a very Jimbo-esque way.
Evening Standard: Reputation launderers: the London PR firms with their own image problems
PR agencies are less coy when it comes to talking about the work that they have spurned. Freud Communications, run by Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law Matthew Freud, is understood to have turned down approaches from Colonel Gaddafi "about 10 times" and now deposed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak on five occasions, though he's happy to work for Leyla Aliyeva, the daughter of Azerbaijan's repressive president Ilham Aliyev.
The Guardian: Azerbaijan may score nil points on human rights, but according to the wonderful world of PR, Eurovision's got the solution
The Eurovision song contest is always the sequinned highlight of the cultural calendar, but will its lustre be dimmed this year because it's taking place in Azerbaijan, ranked 162nd in Reporters Without Borders' press freedom list? Quite a few opponents of President Aliyev will have to watch on 26 May on prison TV, and the anxious Azeris are employing a phalanx of PR companies across Europe to boost their profile. Berlin-based Consultum Communications, headed by the unfortunately named Hans-Erich Bilges, has been lobbying hard in Germany, but Azerbaijan's two agencies in the UK, Freud Communications and Ketchum, are also doing their bit. Freud works principally on cultural projects patronised by the president's daughter, Leyla Aliyeva, and denies reports it has been recruiting celebs to add glamour to next week's contest in Baku.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Moonage Daydream » Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:00 pm

Leyla Aliyeva (T-H-L) is interesting.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by thekohser » Fri Sep 06, 2013 3:40 pm

Jimbo emphatically denies any connection with Viki Hərəkat, and I believe him 100% (for once). However, that hasn't stopped the Viki Hərəkat folks from prominently "borrowing" Jimbo's image for the front page of their website.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:00 pm

thekohser wrote:Jimbo emphatically denies any connection with Viki Hərəkat, and I believe him 100% (for once). However, that hasn't stopped the Viki Hərəkat folks from prominently "borrowing" Jimbo's image for the front page of their website.
What VikiHərəkat? link
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the order dated March 28, 2013, in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2013, "Information and communication technologies" Year of the declaration signed by the action plan. Paragraph 22 of the order (such as the global information on the content and Wikipedia information on the development of the resources provided.

Since its establishment, the language of the online content is continually working to genisləndiriməsi Young Translators Association of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology with the support of the Center for International Relations and Settlement "VikiHərəkat" project launched. The goal of the project, which will last until the end of the year on the content and the "Wikipedia" of global information resources as well as information related to the development of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the spread of Wikipedia is a voluntary movement.
Azerbaijan invited first time for Wikimania forum link
Azerbaijan has been invited for the first time for Wikimania forum to be held in Hong Kong August 7-11 2013.

At the forum the country will be represented by coordinators of the national segment of Wikipedia Rovsan Ramizoglu and Elgun Ataliyev.

"In Azerbaijani part of Wikipedia there are more than 95,000 articles in different directions. azWiki is numbering about 50 active editors – no one newspaper of Azerbaijan has such a large editorial staff,” Ramizoglu emphasized.

"Although Wikipedia is the fifth largest website in the world, in Azerbaijan it is not known and needs promotion by the media," Ataliev said.

Although Wikimania has been conducted since 2005, Azerbaijan will be represented at the conference for the first time.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by tarantino » Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:56 pm

Moonage Daydream wrote:Leyla Aliyeva (T-H-L) is interesting.
There's several edits from someone at 85.132.65.43 (mail.sam.gov.az) which is The Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan. Then there's user DDG51 (T-C-L). His only edits are to the bios of Leyla and her parents, and the now deleted article "International Dialogue for Environmental Action", which was founded by Leyla.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by tarantino » Sat Sep 07, 2013 12:51 am

tarantino wrote:
Moonage Daydream wrote:Leyla Aliyeva (T-H-L) is interesting.
There's several edits from someone at 85.132.65.43 (mail.sam.gov.az) which is The Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan. Then there's user DDG51 (T-C-L). His only edits are to the bios of Leyla and her parents, and the now deleted article "International Dialogue for Environmental Action", which was founded by Leyla.
16 minutes after the above, someone reverted DDG51's whitewashing of the first lady of Azerbaijan's bio, which had stood for nearly two months.

Wikipedia, always improving, and quickly!

The photo on Leyla Alieva's bio,
Image

was uploaded as "own work" by DDG51. It's used on her personal website, as well as dozens of others that highlight how wonderful she is. DDG51 is her photographer, then :)

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Moonage Daydream » Sat Sep 07, 2013 3:39 am

tarantino wrote:The photo on Leyla Alieva's bio,
Image

was uploaded as "own work" by DDG51. It's used on her personal website, as well as dozens of others that highlight how wonderful she is. DDG51 is her photographer, then :)
Also the photographer of Tofiq Bağırov.
Image
Although that particular shot may be post mortem.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by EricBarbour » Sat Sep 07, 2013 4:18 am

Now for a question: is there any sign of these apparent Azeri government editors fighting with Armenian editors? Because that's what they've been
doing in the past on en-WP. If you like, I could post my article with the list of combatants, and you can compare them to the editors in this "Viki Hərəkat" outfit.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:03 pm

Azerbaijan government's involvement in its language's Wikipedia expansion
The Signpost, 4 September 2013 link
The Azerbaijani news portal abc.az reported on September 6 that the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and Information is creating a "social movement for expansion of the information about the country in online encyclopedia Wikipedia". The Ministry said it was collaborating with the Azerbaijan Association of Young Translators (AGTA) to create a wiki movement in the country. The website of VikiHərəkat, the Azerbaijani wiki movement, is here. Jimmy Wales said on his talk page, "I know nothing about it." According to Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijan has a deteriorating human rights record. Under the heading "Azerbaijan: Crackdown on Civil Society", Human Rights Watch summarises the most recent developments in the country as follows:

“The Azerbaijani government engaged in a deliberate, abusive strategy to limit dissent. The strategy is designed to curtail opposition political activity, limit public criticism of the government, and exercise greater control over nongovernmental organizations. The clampdown on freedom of expression, assembly, and association have accelerated in the months preceding the presidential elections, scheduled for October 9, 2013."

This makes Azerbaijan, after Kazakhstan (see earlier Signpost report), the second state with a dismal record on human rights and free speech to take an active interest in the expansion of the local language version of Wikipedia.

According to The Guardian, the Azeri government is employing a number of PR agencies in Europe, including Freud Communications, Consultum Communications and Ketchum.
I don't understand Azerbaijani, but the Google translation supra led me to believe that Azerbaijani Association of Young Translators was part of the Ministry of Communications and Information: "Since its establishment, the language of the online content is continually working to genisləndiriməsi Young Translators Association of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology with the support of the Center for International Relations and Settlement "VikiHərəkat" project launched."
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:48 pm

Image
Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia co-founder, left) described Milli as a “hero”

Where next for Azerbaijan?
Glasgow Guardian, 23 June 2012 link
Curious to find out more, I spoke to Emin Milli, an Azerbaijani dissident who, during a 17 months stay behind bars, was deemed a ‘prisoner of conscience’ by Amnesty International – a person held on the grounds of their political or religious beliefs.

A dissident may not seem the most neutral perspective on a country, but make no mistake, whilst he speaks candidly and critically about his government, Milli is also proud of Azerbaijan’s history and is optimistic about its future:

‘I believe in Azerbaijan’s future.’ He tells me over Skype,

‘We have a strong democratic tradition. In 1918, we became the first democratic country in the Muslim world, and women were given the right to vote in 1919. Years before many western countries.’

At the same time, and in spite of the possible consequences, he is frank about the behavior of the Azerbaijani government, which has led some critics to label the former-Soviet nation, ‘Absurdistan’.
[...]
In recent years, 11 British politicians have gone on ‘fact-finding’ missions to Azerbaijan, paid for by lobbying groups sympathetic to the regime. In 2009, during Milli’s high-profile imprisonment, Tony Blair travelled to Azerbaijan and gave a speech at the opening of a fossil-fuel power plant owned by Azeri oligarch, Nizami Piriyev. He was reportedly paid over £100,000 for the speech, which lasted 20 minutes, and then dined with the Azerbaijan president. Unsurprisingly, he skirted the issue of human rights.
[...]
When I spoke with Milli, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has just called him a hero at a Freedom Now event in London. Milli appeared almost unsettled by this, and remains adamant that he is not a hero. Reflecting on the incident in his blog, Milli writes:

‘My answer is no. I am not a hero. I do not want to die or to go to jail again and ask everyone to go with me as Martin Luther King did or Gandhi did. I am just a person who wants basic things for my country, for the whole humanity if possible. I do not have any ideological leaning or political ambitions. I am a naive dreamer and often I realize that all I can do is just dream loudly.’
Emin Milli
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (December 2012)
The user with the most edits to the article is Eminmilli: link

Eminmilli (T-C-L)
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:10 pm

Some background on Azerbaijan's ruling family:

How Azerbaijan Is Like 'The Godfather'
The Atlantic, 11 July 2013 link

Interestingly, yesterday someone added a great deal of damaging information to the BLP of Azerbaijan' First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva (T-H-L).

The mass of new information was described as "(undo removal of sourced info)(Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)": link.

It was added by 193.75.49.106: link,
an IP in Bergen, Norway: link
whose first edit, on 3 May 2013, was: link
Morris, Kevin (26 April 2013). "Winners of Wikipedia's biggest award still haven't received prize money". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by tarantino » Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:47 pm

Mancunium wrote:Some background on Azerbaijan's ruling family:

How Azerbaijan Is Like 'The Godfather'
The Atlantic, 11 July 2013 link

Interestingly, yesterday someone added a great deal of damaging information to the BLP of Azerbaijan' First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva (T-H-L).

The mass of new information was described as "(undo removal of sourced info)(Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)": link.
I pointed this out a few posts up in this thread. The IP wasn't adding, but was reverting DGG51's previous blanking.

The same information was previously removed by AylaSeyid as "Gossip fake information".

There is an Ayla Seyid who is a social editor at Baku, a magazine founded by Leyla Aliyeva.
Perhaps the author of The Atlantic article, Michael Weiss, would be interested in the wiki history of Azerbaijan's ruling family.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by The Joy » Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:15 pm

EricBarbour wrote:Now for a question: is there any sign of these apparent Azeri government editors fighting with Armenian editors? Because that's what they've been
doing in the past on en-WP. If you like, I could post my article with the list of combatants, and you can compare them to the editors in this "Viki Hərəkat" outfit.
Or Russian editors supporting Armenian editors?

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/25005647.html

Armenia and Azerbaijan had some border skirmishes over Nagorno-Karabakh (T-H-L) just last year. If I were an Azeri citizen, I would be beyond mortified that those 9K720 Iskander (T-H-L) ballistic missiles are stationed in (or possibly owned by) Armenia.

2012 Armenian–Azerbaijani border clashes (T-H-L)
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:20 pm

tarantino wrote:
Mancunium wrote:Some background on Azerbaijan's ruling family:

How Azerbaijan Is Like 'The Godfather'
The Atlantic, 11 July 2013 link

Interestingly, yesterday someone added a great deal of damaging information to the BLP of Azerbaijan' First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva (T-H-L).

The mass of new information was described as "(undo removal of sourced info)(Tag: possible BLP issue or vandalism)": link.
I pointed this out a few posts up in this thread. The IP wasn't adding, but was reverting DGG51's previous blanking.

The same information was previously removed by AylaSeyid as "Gossip fake information".

There is an Ayla Seyid who is a social editor at Baku, a magazine founded by Leyla Aliyeva.
Thanks! I started looking for Azerbaijan/Wikipedia stuff this morning, and fell down an internet rabbit hole that eventually led me, hours later, to Mehriban Aliyeva's BLP; and by that time I had completely forgotten your earlier post.

I still don't understand how to use a lot of the information in meta-wikipedia. I should have read the complete revision history (258 revisions since the first on 19 May 2006). When I see that amount of data I usually just freak out. Sorry.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:39 pm

For reference, the Kazakh government's somewhat similar involvement in the Kazakh Wikipedia effort has been discussed at length here, as well as in this blog post.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by EricBarbour » Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:52 pm

Mancunium wrote:I still don't understand how to use a lot of the information in meta-wikipedia. I should have read the complete revision history (258 revisions since the first on 19 May 2006). When I see that amount of data I usually just freak out. Sorry.
Now you know how WP gets away with so much defamation, abuse and madness. Very damn few people, even academic people, have the patience to tease patterns out of article edit summaries. Security through obscurity.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Zoloft » Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:03 pm

Coincidentally, we now have a Azeri member in the forum, and I have pointed them to this topic.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by tarantino » Sun Sep 08, 2013 12:13 am

Zoloft wrote:Coincidentally, we now have a Azeri member in the forum, and I have pointed them to this topic.
Welcome, chairman of the Azerbaijan Youth Translators Association !

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by jabism » Sun Sep 08, 2013 5:10 am

Dear all,

VikiHərəkat is a project of Azerbaijan Youth Translators Association, a youth NGO operating in Azerbaijan. I think we have nothing in common with Kazakhstan's project and it is not worth comparing. We have nothing in common. That was a huge project with huge funding from Kazakh government and was government's direct interference with Wikipedia. As far as I know that project was directly controlled by the government. But our project is directly run and controlled by us and our intention is to help those, who want to be involved in Wikipedia, and improve their skills in doing so. We'll encourage the youth potential of the country to spend their leisure time for such a useful cause. We won't pay somebody to contribute to Wikipedia or hire notebooks or employees to do so. We'll bring them together in trainings, train them and encourage them to continue their activities in wikipedia. Again, we don't shape contents, we explain them how the content is made, its principles, technical issues etc. Also, we don't have any assocation with Wikimedia. I'd be more than happy to answer your questions so that noone has the wrong impression.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Sun Sep 08, 2013 9:59 am

Here is the press release of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan
06.09.2013
‘WikiMovement’ project launched with support of MCIT



The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies (MCIT) continues to implement measures in accordance with the Action Plan, approved by the Ministry in connection with the declaration of 2013 the Year of Information and Communication Technologies in Azerbaijan.

Thus, paragraph 22 of the Action Plan envisages taking measures to develop the content on Azerbaijan and data related to the Republic of Azerbaijan in global information resources like Wikipedia. To this end, the MCIT in cooperation with the Azerbaijani Young Translators’ Association (AGTA) conducted a study to increase the content on Azerbaijan on Wikipedia.

So, AGTA, which provides consistent efforts to expand online content in Azerbaijani language since its establishment, has launched a project ‘WikiMovement’ with the support of the International Relations and Accounting Center of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies: “The project which will last until the end of the year aims to improve the content and data related to Azerbaijan Republic on the global information resources like Wikipedia and spread of the volunteer movement in the country. WikiMovement includes two main components. The first is the placement of articles on Wikipedia by coordinating the activities of individuals and organizations that have joined the ‘WikiMovement’ as well as improving their skills.

The second major component of the project is to improve the skills of Wikipedia fans through trainings. Thus, in the first stage training courses will be held for instructors in Baku with the participation of young people from 4 regions (west, north, south, central).

In the second stage, trained representatives will conduct courses for Wikipedia fans in the capital and in 4 regions of the country. Trainings will be held in Ganja (western region), Khachmaz (north), Lankaran (southern) and Shirvan (central).

Conditions will be created for young people from regions to participate in projects in the regions. It is possible to join ‘WikiMovement’ as an individual or organization. To join ‘WikiMovement’ as an organization call: +99412 497 80 09 +99451 931 01 86. Individuals should fill out an application form. Detailed information about the movement will be given after joining ‘WikiMovement’.

Note that acceptance of applications will be announced for participation in the courses of trainers to be held in Baku city on September 14-15. The date of the trainings to be held in regions will be announced after that. All course participants will be able to join ‘WikiMovement’.
Here are some outside assessments of Azerbaijan's human rights and freedom of speech record: Key points in those reports are that defamation is a criminal offence, punishable with up to one year of "corrective labour", and concerted efforts by the state to control the Internet.
Azerbaijan has adopted a controversial law that Amnesty International claims targets online freedom of speech. A new amendment to the country’s defamation law makes “slander” and “insults” on the internet punishable by fines, imprisonment or hard labour.

According to the state news agency APA, those found guilty of slander face a fine of up to the equivalent of €493, as well as one year corrective labour or jail time of up to six months. The punishments are even harsher if the slanderous comments are deemed to have been ‘insulting’.

The changes come shortly before the country’s presidential election in October, leaving human rights groups worried that authorities are trying to silence all critical voices and meaningful debate.

Amnesty International has condemned the move in a press release, calling it a “further attack of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.”
The chairman of AGTA is Ismayil Jabrayilov, who reportedly translated the Declaration of Internet Freedom into Azerbaijani and considered the removal of Aliyev Sr.'s statue from a park in Mexico "exciting news".
"From the comments on the photos you can see how people are recalling how the statues of Stalin, Lenin were brought down," says Jabrayilov. "They wish to see the destruction of Aliyev's statues in Azerbaijan as well."
I guess the questions are:
  1. Why co-operate with the Ministry?
  2. What does the Ministry contribute?
  3. What's in it for them?
  4. How is AGTA funded?

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:31 am

jabism wrote:Dear all,

VikiHərəkat is a project of Azerbaijan Youth Translators Association, a youth NGO operating in Azerbaijan. I think we have nothing in common with Kazakhstan's project and it is not worth comparing. We have nothing in common. That was a huge project with huge funding from Kazakh government and was government's direct interference with Wikipedia. As far as I know that project was directly controlled by the government. But our project is directly run and controlled by us and our intention is to help those, who want to be involved in Wikipedia, and improve their skills in doing so. We'll encourage the youth potential of the country to spend their leisure time for such a useful cause. We won't pay somebody to contribute to Wikipedia or hire notebooks or employees to do so. We'll bring them together in trainings, train them and encourage them to continue their activities in wikipedia. Again, we don't shape contents, we explain them how the content is made, its principles, technical issues etc. Also, we don't have any assocation with Wikimedia. I'd be more than happy to answer your questions so that noone has the wrong impression.
Welcome.

The Kazakh project wasn't controlled directly by the government, but by WikiBilim, an organization which had the then-Kazakh prime minister (now the president's chief of staff) as its patron. His image still adorns every page of WikiBilim's website today. And the chief organizer of WikiBilim had previously worked at the Kazakh embassy in Russia, and served as Moscow Bureau chief for Kazakhstan's National TV Agency, described in the Western press as a "government propaganda arm".

WikiBilim too were adamant that they would mainly provide Wikipedia training, and not interfere with user-contributed content in any way.

In addition, they engaged in a major effort to transfer the content of the state-published National Encyclopedia to Wikipedia. Since the completion of that project, editing in the Kazakh Wikipedia has almost ceased again.

The most notable commonalities between the political systems of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are oil wealth (Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan (T-H-L)) and Godfather comparisons.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by thekohser » Sun Sep 08, 2013 12:28 pm

jabism wrote:I think we have nothing in common with Kazakhstan's project and it is not worth comparing. We have nothing in common.
Sounds like you're an advanced graduate of the Wikia School of Jimbo Logic.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Sun Sep 08, 2013 5:03 pm

From Jimmy Wales' talk page:
Dear all, I am the head of the project's parent organization - AGTA. VikiHerekat has in no way used Wikipedia logo or stylized name in any way. Well before the launch of the project (in April) we started correspondence with Wikimedia Information Team and later Trademark team to avoid any trademark violation. We are building our trademark-related activities on guidelines from Trademark team. That is, we are planning to only use unchanged screenshot of Wikipedia content in the manuals that we are preparing on how to use wikipedia. We have nowhere associated this project with Wikimedia either. Mr Wales, I understand that you might be unaware, but the Foundation I believe is aware, as I noted we started correspondence back in April. At least trademark section knows quite a lot about our project. Unfortunately, Trademark section has not replied to my August 2 email where I gave the details of the project, including all components of it. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding the project. Again, we'll in no way violate Wikipedia principles, including trademarks. Jabism1 (talk) 04:29, 7 September 2013 (UTC)Ismayil Jabrayilov

Hi Ismayil. I think some users of English Wikipedia are nervous or even suspicious about the idea of government money supporting Wikipedia content. This may be a well-founded suspicion or it may be based on misunderstanding. I do not know.
Perhaps it would help if you could say a bit about whether there are limits to what sort of content AGTA can support. I'm aware, for example, that there was controversy to do with the venue for the 2011 Eurovision. Could you imagine it causing any issues for your organisation if a volunteer wanted to add content about that? Or could they just do so freely, with the content being determined by ordinary processes of consensus etc? Or could content end up being shaped by other considerations? Are there any other topics where it might be tricky. Formerip (talk) 11:18, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Let me explain one small instance. AGTA will in no way interfere with the content contributed by the users. It is up to local admins to decide what content needs to be kept or removed. Our intention is just to help those, who want to be involved in Wikipedia, and improve their skills in doing so. We'll encourage the youth potential of the country to spend their leisure time for such a useful cause. We won't pay somebody to contribute to Wikipedia or hire notebooks or employees to do so. We'll bring them together in trainings, train them and encourage them to continue their activities in wikipedia. Again, we don't shape contents, we explain them how the content is made, its principles, technical issues etc. Thank you for your interest. Jabism1 (talk) 19:58, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Thank you. That's a clear answer. Formerip (talk) 20:56, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sun Sep 08, 2013 7:55 pm

The English-language press release of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, noted by HRIP7 link
is dated 6 September 2013, and is obviously a much better translation of the undated Azerbaijani-language press release found in the VikiHərəkat website, Google-translated and quoted earlier in this thread.

The same site includes a summary of the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, dated 28 March 2013. link.
Paragraph 22 is summarized as: "Taking measures to develop the content on Azerbaijan and data related to the Republic of Azerbaijan in global information resources like Wikipedia".

The executors of paragraph 22 are: "Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies by involving NGOs".

The ministry's site also includes the Constitution of Azerbaijan: link
I particularly approve of Article 32:
II. Everyone has the right to keep secret private or family life.

III. It is not allowed to obtain, keep, use and disseminate information about a person’s private life without his or her consent.

V. Everyone has a right to demand correction or elimination of the information collected in regards to him or her, which does not correspond to the truth, is incomplete or collected through violation of the provisions of law.
Article 46:
I. Everyone has the right to defend his/her honor and dignity.

II. Dignity of a person is protected by state. Nothing must lead to humiliation of dignity of human being.
and Article 50:
III. Everyone’s right to refute or react to the information published in the media and violating his or her rights or damaging his or her reputation shall be guaranteed.
If only Wikipedia had such an idealistic constitution.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by EricBarbour » Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:00 am

Welcome, Mr. Jabrayilov. I think you can now see why people are concerned about this situation. Wikipedia has been repeatedly edited, and sometimes controlled, by agents of various governments, for various (usually insipid) reasons. People from the US Congress and other federal agencies, as well as UK parliamentarians and their enemies, have tried to control Wikipedia articles before. Usually they failed, sometimes they succeeded. A number of British MPs are still being defamed via their Wikipedia biographies to this day. And we suspect there are representatives of some national intelligence services on Wikipedia as well, although proof is much less easy to find.

So, you'll forgive the regular people on this forum for being a little bit concerned.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Vigilant » Thu Oct 10, 2013 2:03 am

Nice to see their elections went well.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Poetlister » Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:30 pm

Vigilant wrote:Nice to see their elections went well.
That will fit in well with the Wikipedia ethos.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:21 pm

IRELI launches Wikipedia trainings
News.Az, 24 January 2014 link
IRELI Information Technologies Center will launch WikiDays project in partnership with Wikipedia Azerbaijan.

Professional trainers will hold training and seminars about how to create and edit Wikipedia articles, to protect Wiki-articles, Wikimedia fund, principles of propaganda in Wikipedia and other issues as part of the project.

The project aims to encourage the youth to use Wikipedia in a correct manner, to protect interests of Azerbaijan in Wikipedia and prevent distortion of information about Azerbaijan.

The project will last a month.[...]
IRELI Statement: link
As an organization, we are creating the image of a citizen who respects national-spiritual values, religion, language and history. We are against cosmopolitanism which has been created by liberalization accompanied by an expansion of democratic desires in society. Only spiritual and ethical criteria based on national values and rules will be able to guarantee the complete and comprehensive development of every member of our society. We are guided by neo-conservative ideas. We want to see responsible state officials, students and property owners who are true to their values.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:27 pm

Mancunium wrote:IRELI launches Wikipedia trainings
News.Az, 24 January 2014 link
IRELI Information Technologies Center will launch WikiDays project in partnership with Wikipedia Azerbaijan.

Professional trainers will hold training and seminars about how to create and edit Wikipedia articles, to protect Wiki-articles, Wikimedia fund, principles of propaganda in Wikipedia and other issues as part of the project.

The project aims to encourage the youth to use Wikipedia in a correct manner, to protect interests of Azerbaijan in Wikipedia and prevent distortion of information about Azerbaijan.

The project will last a month.[...]
IRELI Statement: link
As an organization, we are creating the image of a citizen who respects national-spiritual values, religion, language and history. We are against cosmopolitanism which has been created by liberalization accompanied by an expansion of democratic desires in society. Only spiritual and ethical criteria based on national values and rules will be able to guarantee the complete and comprehensive development of every member of our society. We are guided by neo-conservative ideas. We want to see responsible state officials, students and property owners who are true to their values.
Wow. For a moment there, I thought that IRELI statement must be a spoof. :yikes:

It isn't.

Someone should ask Jimmy Wales about this. :boing:

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:48 pm

IRELI wrote:Professional trainers will hold training and seminars about ... principles of propaganda in Wikipedia and other issues as part of the project.
Nice to see that they're reclaiming the p-word.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:51 pm

Mancunium wrote:
IRELI wrote:Professional trainers will hold training and seminars about ... principles of propaganda in Wikipedia and other issues as part of the project.
Nice to see that they're reclaiming the p-word.
My thoughts exactly. :B'

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Ca$hBag » Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:47 pm

EricBarbour wrote:Now for a question: is there any sign of these apparent Azeri government editors fighting with Armenian editors? .
Those are probably individuals. Armenians and Azeris, at least in the past, hated each other to the teeth; more-so than Israelis and Palestinians I'd say. And that's what's been happening on wikipedia. I remember even one arbcom about it.

Though i wouldn't necessarily rule out government involvement either.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Jan 25, 2014 4:29 am

Rauf Mardiyev elected new chairman of “IRELI” Public Union
CaspianLinks link
II General Conference of “IRELI” Public Union was held at Heidar Aliyev Palace on 5 May. Ministry of Youth and Tourism Azad Rahimov, Chief of the Political Analyses and Information Department of Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Republic Elnur Aslanov, MPs, ministries, state officials, embassies, international organizations, mass media means, private sector and NGO representatives took part in the conference. 1700 “IRELI” members from 11 cities and 56 regions also took part in the event. [...] Co-founder of “IRELI” Public Union, MP Jeyhun Osmanli delivered a speech [...] “IRELI” is the organization of people who believe in Azerbaijan idea. At the time when some turned back on Azerbaijan citing development, democracy and did not believe in Azerbaijan idea, “IRELI” became an organization of those who believed in Azerbaijan idea, an organization of those who made this idea live. “IRELI” is an endless idea and I will be always by our organization as a person who believes in this idea like thousands others. [...]

In his speech Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov noted that “IRELI” set a target of gathering active, intellectual, patriotic youths together since its establishment. “IRELI” activity is not limited to Baku, but also covers the regions. Minister noted that today “IRELI” is closely participating in expansion of activities of youths from regions of Azerbaijan in public and citizenship spheres. Chief of the Political Analyses and Information Department of Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Republic Elnur Aslanov [...] noted that “IRELI” is an army of 20 000 and recommended Azerbaijani youths to be initiative, to implement successful projects and to keep high intellectual potential.

In the end, chair candidates Narmin Mammadova and Rauf Mardiyev delivered speeches. Narmin Mammadova spoke about the opportunities created for the youths by “IRELI”, and in the end of her speech, she withdrew her candidacy in favour of Rauf Mardiyev. In the elections that followed Rauf Mardiyev won by a landslide and was elected chairman of “IRELI” Public Union for the next tenure. New-elect “IRELI” chairman noted that the purpose was more independent Azerbaijan and that no efforts would be spared in this direction: “We are not just members of the same organization, we are hopes of 9 million Azerbaijan and it is our duty to justify these hopes. [...]
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:15 am

Ireli, Azerbaijan’s eager tool of oppression
allispolitics, 10 May 2013 link
[...] If you ever wanted to do a movie featuring an operetta regime and their clueless club of cheerleaders, just look at the dictatorship running the country of Azerbaijan and the youth organization supporting it. It’s called Ireli Public Union. Let’s set the stage. Azerbaijan is a small, ex-Soviet country in the South Caucasus, tucked between Russia to the North and Iran to the South. Its geographical situation alone provides Azerbaijan with the continued interest of everyone from Moscow to Peking, from Brussels to Washington DC, from Jerusalem to Ankara and Tehran. The Caspian Sea to its East gives Baku oil and gas riches; to its West, Armenia provides Azerbaijan with a reason for conflict and war. [...] Ethnic tensions and the occasional violence between Armenians and Azerbaijani’s are nothing new. But the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, still very much on, has been providing an added excuse for both governments to instill a profound hate of the other in the minds of their peoples. The NK-conflict also provides a convenient subterfuge to keep an iron grip on the affairs of state. After all: there is a war going on. [...] By any international measure, the Aliyev-regime has turned Azerbaijan into one of the world’s most oppressive, corrupt, dysfunctional, unfree, undemocratic, economically failed societies. In an environment that was controlling and totalitarian from the very beginning, your only way of social and economic advancement is siding with the powers that be. Those who refuse to trade off their political rights for some measure of social standing and a shot at making a quick buck through favoritism, well: they get marginalized, persecuted, or killed. And the problems are getting worse, not better.

So. This is Azerbaijan. A country with a great history, natural beauty, freedom-minded people, fabled hospitality, the birth place of some of the world’s greatest literature and works of art. But with a government that uses oil and gas wealth not to build schools, health care, public infrastructure, housing, but to enrich the elite. And to buy the attention of the international community, bring international events to Baku, win favors from the powerful, the privilege to sit at the high tables of Davos, DC, Brussels. Having robbed the country and its people blind, what the regime craves now is the recognition of the international community. Western leaders in particular. [...] When I was living in Baku myself, [...] Ireli was nothing but an empty shell. A token pro-Aliyev youth movement that didn’t do much of any consequence, besides trying to get funds from the European Union to throw away on international exchanges for the sons and daughters of the corrupt elite. Ireli was to sit tight and shut up until the moment of need would arrive, when the regime wanted a countervailing force against some protest movement, that at that point still was to materialize with any importance. Not too long ago, that moment came.

First, a new kind of dissident youth networks gained ground and started to stage activities mocking the government, its corruption, and the deplorable state of society and public services. Their actions got some attention. Then, the old, persecuted and marginalized political parties joined forces. Again, yes, but this time they included groups and independents from civic life. Most recently, social unrest hit some of the smaller towns outside Baku. Rural people got fed up with the stealing and arbitrary use of power by local governors, and took to the streets. Then, a young soldier, a conscript, was murdered by his senior officers. Finally, an Azerbaijani author, Akram Aylisli, was courageous enough to write a story set against the conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabagh. In his book, he self-searchingly questioned his own nation’s attitudes towards their neighbours. A daring, much needed thing to do. But an explosive act too, endangering his life. So. Something stirred in the waters. People got jailed, family members harassed and threatened, but this was in itself nothing new. Protests erupted, and this time, people could cite social causes for their dissatisfaction, not primarily political ones. This time, it was about justice and fairness.

Ireli sprang into action to defend their overlord, president Ilham Aliyev. On Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere, they started playing down the extent of the malcontent. The size of the protests. And attacking dissidents. Suddenly, to me at least, the group that I got to know as a bunch of lethargic and spoiled little rich kids turned out to be not so lethargic anymore. In the past few years, it turned out, Ireli had been built up to play the attack dog for the regime quite aggressively. What do I find so infuriating about the likes of Ireli? I guess the anger goes back to notions about complicity to tyranny set forth so meticulously by Hannah Arendt. In times of oppression, it is those that roll with the system that actively perpetuate it. It’s the opportunism, the jockeying for a good position in life, in business, in government, the perspective of a personal reward, that makes people opt for a place in the system of repression. They’re not forced to. They choose consciously. They are not mistaken or misguided. It is not that they believe its for the good of the country. They know very well it is only for the good of their own pockets. And for this, they willingly turn themselves into a tool to repress, criminalize and attack the voice of dissent. Every time an Ireli kid claims he loves his country: somewhere, a little truth fairy dies. This human failure is of all times, of everywhere, I know that. Still. If we resign to it and remain silent, we also become perpetrators.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:53 pm

Why not get some NPOV® about Ireli? The only two Wikipediae that have articles on the patriotic youth movement are the Azerbaijani and the Russian.

İrəli (ictimai birlik) link
Google-translation from Azerbaijani link
This article neutrality is doubtful. The article aimed to condemn the arrest or the alleged statements are not proved. Requested in connection with this discussion, please participate.
?
Ирели link
Google-translation from Russian link
The current version of the page while not tested experienced participants and may differ significantly from the version screened September 16, 2012; checks require 9 edits.
?
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:00 pm

Azerbaijan’s achievements presented in Davos
AzerNews, 27 January 2014 link
Azerbaijan's achievements in political and economic spheres were presented at the 44th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, held on January 22-25. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who visited Davos in Switzerland, attended the session titled "Eurasia: The Next Frontier?" on January 23. The session, most of whose participants attended the World Economic Forum Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the South Caucasus and Central Asia in Baku last year, addressed several topics, including diversifying the region's economic base, fostering inclusion in global supply chains, and enhancing cross-border trade. [...]

Later, President Aliyev attended a reception titled "South Caucasus and Central Asia: Path to Global Economy". The event was opened by Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab. President Aliyev gave a speech at the reception, saying there is a huge potential for cooperation in the region. [...] Azerbaijan also held the Night of Azerbaijan under the motto "SOCAR - Energy of Azerbaijan" in Davos. The event was organized in Davos for the third time with the goal of promoting Azerbaijan in the world and introducing Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR to world business circles. The event started with showing a video titled "Azerbaijan - the Country of the Future".

The event brought together government representatives from several countries, world media leaders, and businessmen. Azerbaijan also held the Night of Azerbaijan in Davos where the Heydar Aliyev Foundation's publications popularizing Azerbaijan were distributed among the event participants. The participants watched a promotional video on Azerbaijan's development, and the ongoing land improvement and construction work in Baku. [...]
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:17 pm

Bty, while the President was eating fish eggs in Switzerland, this was the top media event in Azerbaijan:

Exorcism in Azerbaijan Jinn subtraction operation Cin çıkarma
Posted 23 January 2014
#BBCtrending: The 'exorcist' of Azerbaijan
BBC News, 27 January 2014 link
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:30 pm

There've been presentations in Davos about Wikipedia, like this one last year.
I left with added respect for Wikipedia, understanding why Jimmy Wales’s creation is more accurate than the Britannica I was raised on. And confident its legacy will be a more balanced, accurate version of events for future historians to ponder.
Tell that to the Croatians. :)

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Tippi Hadron » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:34 pm

Mancunium wrote:Exorcism in Azerbaijan Jinn subtraction operation Cin çıkarma
Jinn/Ifrit are usually bad news. "I do not grant wishes." Hélas.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:24 pm

Tippi Hadron wrote:
Mancunium wrote:Exorcism in Azerbaijan Jinn subtraction operation Cin çıkarma
Jinn/Ifrit are usually bad news. "I do not grant wishes." Hélas.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Tippi Hadron » Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:07 pm

Mancunium wrote:
Tippi Hadron wrote:
Mancunium wrote:Exorcism in Azerbaijan Jinn subtraction operation Cin çıkarma
Jinn/Ifrit are usually bad news. "I do not grant wishes." Hélas.
*blink*

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Tue Mar 04, 2014 4:26 pm

Wikipedia Azerbaijan writers to hold a forum
News.Az., 4 March 2014 link
The First Forum of Wikipedia Writers of Azerbaijan will be held in Park Inn Hotel in Baku on 10 March. The forum aims to bring together experts in this field, to exchange opinion on current state of Wikipedia Azerbaijan and discuss ways to solve problems. It is also planned to develop an action plan and a packet of proposals aimed at developing Wikipedia. The forum will bring together Wikipedia experts and users, intellectuals and science figures and activists of internet community. Those wishing to participate can fill up an application form on http://www.wikimedia.az till 7 March. Wikipedia is the largest free encyclopedia all over the world. It holds over 300 million encyclopedic articles in 287 languages. There are 98,000 articles on Wikipedia Azerbaijan at the moment.
Wikimedia Azerbijan link

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Anthonyhcole » Thu Mar 06, 2014 6:22 am

As a very rough rule of thumb, in this forum the number of views a thread gets is twenty times the number of posts. This thread is a bit of an outlier; presently 43 : 1849.

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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Fri Mar 07, 2014 5:05 pm

Also note http://wikimedia.az/forma/#.UxbAF_nV_X8 – a page proudly displaying a Wikimedia Azerbaijan logo.

Mentioned a few days ago on Jimbo's talk by Kuintex (T-C-L).
Hello, Mr Wales, Are you aware of National Wikipedia Forum (http://wikimedia.az/forma/#.UxbAF_nV_X8) to be held in Azerbaijan by Wikimedia Azerbaijan (http://www.wikimedia.az)? Is this organization licensed with Wikimedia Foundation? Is the forum funded by Wikimedia Foundation? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kuintex (talk • contribs) 06:24, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Moved from User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 158. Graham87 12:25, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

I don't know anything about this forum, but that doesn't really mean much. I try to keep up with everything that is going on around the globe, but I can't. Wikimedia Azerbaijan is in discussion phase: "Writing bylaws / translating to english". The contact is User:Proger and will presumably have more information.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 12:45, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:03 pm

Ireli, the Ilham Aliev fan club (link), has gone from being a gang of street thugs, to professional propagandists, to administrators of Azerbaijani Wikipedia, and now to official mentors of the nation's youth.

Ireli launches 'Career development school' project
Ireli Economy Centre, in cooperation with "Dahi" Training and Consultation Centre is starting new project "Career development school".
News.Az, 7 March 2014 link
As part of the project, trainings will be held on the improvement of management skills of youths willing to work in the private sector. The project will last two months, during which participants will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge. They will be taught programs in themes such as "Basics of management skills", "Personal effectiveness of the head", "Seven skills of modern leader", "Time Management. Transmission of liabilities" and "Branding of person. Formation of skilled and demanded brand". To join the project, fill an application form at the official website of Ireli Public Union by 15 March 2014.
At the same site, you can also read about:

US State department human rights report in Azerbaijan biased – MP
News.Az, 4 March 2014 link
Deputy Chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, MP Siyavush Novruzov has commented on a recent human rights report for 2013 of the US State Department. Addressing the plenary meeting of Milli Majlis, Novruzov said the State Department report is biased and does not meet reality. The report repeats thoughts reflected in the State Department reports of 15-20-year-old, he added. [...] He noted that the State Department report on human rights in Azerbaijan mainly contains lies and slander that were provided by pro-Armenian individuals.
And for Mr Wales's consideration:

English-language version
Wikimedia Azerbaijan
Wikimedia Meta-Wiki link
Wikimedia Azerbaijan is a local chapter in discussion phase. A local chapter is a local organization to promote Wikimedia projects and empower knowledge, educative content creation and share, in a geographical area, in this case, in Azerbaijan. Its mission is to support and spread all Wikimedia projects in the country. It can represent the Wikimedia projects to the press, give conferences and presentation in public events. Current state is investigation and discussion of possibilities to establish an NGO in accordance with the national laws.
Azerbaijani-language version
Wikimedia Azerbaijan
Wikimedia Meta-Wiki link
translation:
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. activity in regions of the state population living in the region, and the recognition that focuses on the development of Wikipedias. Thus, the language of the section of the Wikipedia Foundation's activities include the development of: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; The idea for the development of activities and meetings; People in the organization to easily access knowledge and Wikipedia projects; The legal protection of intellectual property and release.
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:36 pm

I National Wikipedia Forum held in Azerbaijan
Wikipedia Azerbaijan held I National Wikipedia Forum on 10 March.
News.Az, 11 March 2014 link
The forum attendd by well-known Wikipedia experts, NGO representatives, young scholars and young people aimed to bring together experts in this field, to exchange opinion on current state of Wikipedia Azerbaijan, to discuss ways to solve problems, to develop an action plan and a packet of proposals aimed at developing Wikipedia. The first panel of the forum attended by 120 people was titled ‘Pace of development of Wikipedia Azerbaijan’ and was moderated by IRELI Public Union Chairman Rauf Mardiyev. The first panel was addressed by MP, Wikipedia administrator Aydin Mirzazade talked about the history of Wikipedia Azerbaijan, its users and number of articles.

Rector of Khazar University Hamlet Isakhanli described Wikipedia as one of the fantastic projects saying that it is the first source of the information searhed. Noting the role of Wikipedia in scientific research, he emphasized the importance of integration of Wikipedia into education system. Later Wikipedia administrator Irada Alakbarova made a presentation on Wikipedia. The last speaker of the panel was socia media expert Rasim Mahmudov who stated that the potential of Azerbaijani society allows to achive even greater results.

The panel continued in discussions. The second panel discussed ‘Current problems in Wikipedia Azerbaijan and ways to solve them.’ The panel was moderated by Wikipedia administrator Irada Alakbarova. Representative of Wikimedia Azerbaijan Orkhan Guliyev said volunteers are needed to develop Wikimedia. Over 100 proposals collected as a result of all speeches and discussions were announced at the end of the forum. The forum participants decided that the working group to be created in future will work out proposals and an action plan.
How nice that one of the Wikipedia's administrators is a Member of Parliament. Maybe I will Google some of these people, when I find the time.

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(left to right:) well-known Wikipedia experts, NGO
representatives, young scholars and young people
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Mancunium
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by Mancunium » Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:20 pm

Proger (T-C-L)
Projects in which I participate:

Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg This wiki — stable
Wikimedia-logo.svg META Wiki — home
Wikipedia-logo.png Azerbaijani Wikipedia — home, admin, active user
Wikipedia-logo-test.png Test Wikipedia — volunteer
Mediawiki-logo.png MediaWiki — developer
Strategy Wikipedia (2010-2015)
Other projects (Proger)
Proger SUL Info link

Wikimedia Azerbaijan link
IRC
See also: Wikimedia Azerbaijan/IRC
On the Freenode network, #wikimedia-az channel.
For start to hang up on Freenode: #wikimedia-az IRC-channel. There is also a webbased version.
Server: irc.freenode.net, channel: #wikimedia-az
Contact
Proger (az, ru, en)
or use META: Proger
Wikimedia Azerbaijan/IRC link
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HRIP7
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Wikipedia User: Jayen466
Wikipedia Review Member: HRIP7
Actual Name: Andreas Kolbe
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Re: Is Azerbaijan the new Kazakhstan?

Unread post by HRIP7 » Mon Mar 31, 2014 11:08 am

news.az, 31 March 2014 Number of articles in Wikipedia Azerbaijan top 100,000
Wikipedia Azerbaijan was launched at az.wikipedia.org in 2004. Around 70,000 people have registered with Wikipedia Azerbaijan so far. The Wikipedia in Azerbaijani language ranks 50th among encyclopedias in other languages. [...]

Wikipedia Azerbaijan held I National Wikipedia Forum on 10 March, 2014. The forum was attended by well-known Wikipedia experts, NGO representatives and young scholars.

The forum aimed to bring together experts in this field, to exchange opinion on current state of Wikipedia Azerbaijan, to discuss ways to solve problems, to develop an action plan and a packet of proposals aimed at developing Wikipedia.

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