Send your favourite quote to an Azerbaijan Political Prisoner
Blog post -
Dec 17, 2014
Our allies in Azerbaijan are under attack, right now, and we are asking people to send them solidarity messages and inspirational quotes. On 5 December investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova was arrested in Baku, Azerbaijan. As Khadija was bundled into a car camera flashes popped, people jostled and her friends banged on the car roof and shouted...
BP: stop fuelling repression in Azerbaijan
Blog post -
Sep 17, 2014
This morning I stood outside BP’s International HQ in St James’s Square, London. I was attending a solidarity action for a missing protest. We should have been supporting a similar demo in Azerbaijan’s capital but there were no banners outside BP’s offices in Baku this morning. A woman in the distinctive blue tabard of Baku’s...
Human rights activist and Platform ally Rasul Jafarov arrested in Azerbaijan
Blog post -
Aug 6, 2014
Democracy activist and Platform ally, Rasul Jafarov, was arrested and detained in Baku over the weekend. Rasul has been charged with tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship and power abuse. These are the same falsified charges that saw independent Azeri election monitor Anar Mammadli jailed for 5.5 years. Rasul’s arrest comes shortly after the prominent human rights...
European Public Bank promises €700 million for the Euro-Caspian Mega Pipeline
Blog post -
Jul 25, 2014
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has promised up to €700 million for the disastrous Euro-Caspian Mega Pipeline. In a statement the Managing Director for Energy at the public bank said “the EBRD will invest €600-700 million in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline.” The Euro-Caspian Mega Pipeline (ECMP) is a huge piece of infrastructure...
All that Glitters. Azerbaijan and the Olympics
Blog post -
Jul 10, 2014
Landing at Heydar Aliyev Airport in Baku I thought I knew what to expect. This was my second trip to Azerbaijan’s capital city, and I still had vivid memories of my first, the year before. Back then, I arrived at night and Baku seemed like one of the most opulent places on earth. The drive...
NON VOGLIAMO LE COMPAGNIE PETROLIFERE! – Una comunità italiana dice NO al gasdotto
Blog post -
Feb 24, 2014
This an Italian translation of a Platform blog. Many thanks to Maria Stefanizzi for her translation and to Comitato No Tap where the Italian version was originally posted. Alessandro Mancini mentre parla sbatte la mano su di un tavolo quadrato in legno. Sono seduta in una calda cucina a parlare di gasdotti con Alessandro e...
We don’t want the oil companies! – Italian community says no to pipeline
Blog post -
Feb 19, 2014
This blog is also available in Italian. The future is alternative, sustainable sources of energy. We don’t want the oil companies! This can be an independent state, a Puglia free from the oil companies Alessandro Mancini slaps the wooden table square with his palm as he talks. I am sat in a warm kitchen discussing...
Support Political Art in Azerbaijan
Blog post -
Dec 19, 2013
Art for Democracy website – for human rights in Azerbaijan from epitype on Vimeo. Support Art for Democracy here. Dictatorships, like the Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan, don’t just rely on violence, intimidation and fossil fuels to secure their power. They also need a ‘social license to operate’, especially in other countries like the UK. Our...
Fossil Free EBRD – Tweet Action!
Blog post -
Nov 18, 2013
Tweet #coalfreeEBRD and tell the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to end loans for all dirty energy projects starting with coal. Today, as the United Nations climate talks are taking place in Warsaw, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is attending the International Coal and Climate Summit. This lobby event is organised by...
A Night at the Museum – the Shell sponsored Fracking Quiz
Blog post -
Oct 14, 2013
Last week I joined Science Unstained for a trip to the Science Museum. Science Unstained worries about the corporate sponsorship of science communication – everything from BAE’s sponsorship of the unfortunately titled Big Bang Fair – an event for young scientists and engineers – to Atos designed degree courses. When they’ve had enough of worrying...
Putting Oil before People – Cameron in Kazakhstan
Blog post -
Jul 3, 2013
So David Cameron’s been cozying up to Kazakhstan’s autocratic president Nursultan Nazarbayev, talking up ‘a new relationship’ between Britain and Kazakhstan and claiming that trade between the two countries could total £85bn. Cameron did briefly mention a letter he received from Human Right’s Watch which detailed President Nazarbayev’s appalling record on democracy and human rights...
Signing of TAP agreement delayed as Aliyev tries to silence EU critics
Blog post -
Jun 28, 2013
This morning’s planned announcement that the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline has been chosen as the final part of the mega gas pipeline that would run from the Caspian Sea to Italy1 has been overshadowed by controversy over when the agreement will be signed. The official announcement and a statement by the EU Commission are both expected today...
