tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4331396433182434044.post5668114500970249004..comments2023-09-24T12:47:57.051+01:00Comments on Unzipped: The Duke (Prince Andrew) and The Despot (Azerbaijan president Aliyev)artmikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11207317653711435445noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4331396433182434044.post-72006416696561571662011-03-14T19:23:34.691+00:002011-03-14T19:23:34.691+00:00British press continues scrutinising local "f...British press continues scrutinising local "friends" of Azerbaijan ruling regime:<br /><br /><a href="http://londonersdiary.standard.co.uk/2011/03/andrew-is-only-one-of-the-many-friends-of-azerbaijan.html" rel="nofollow">Andrew is only one of the many friends of Azerbaijan</a> <br /><br />(London's Evening Standard)<br /><br />As if UK trade envoy Prince Andrew is not in enough trouble, he is now facing scrutiny over his cosy dinners with Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan. But it seems unfair to roast only Prince Andrew. Many have extended that hand of friendship to this oil-rich and human rights-poor country on the Caspian Sea. In 2009 former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Azerbaijan, had a private meeting with Aliyev and is thought to have accepted £90,000 for a speaking engagement there. There is a Conservative Friends of Azerbaijan group to foster relations, and the Lib-Dems go one further. Last year the party received £11,500 in donations from The European Azerbaijan Society, an NGO run by LSE-educated Tale Heydarov, which promotes his country’s interests to the world. His wealthy father Kamaladdin Heydarov also runs Azerbaijan’s Emergency Ministry — “widely viewed as a cash cow for Baku’s elite, and the Heydarov family in particular,” as a WikiLeaked US cable put it.A spokesman for The European Azerbaijan Society insists it does not receive any funding from the state of Azerbaijan.artmikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11207317653711435445noreply@blogger.com