Europe

Georgia and Azerbaijan 10 Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union

A Rocky Adolescence?

Chloe Arnold
Baku, Azerbaijan
December 22, 2001

For the 15 countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union, the last decade has been one of immense upheavals. As the vast communist empire crumbled, the former Soviet republics struggled to come to terms with independence. Georgia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus fared worse than most. Both were the scenes of bitter wars in the 1990s—in the case of Georgia, the conflict continues, as Chloe Arnold reports.

KGB agent-turned-President of Georgia Eduard Schevardnaze takes a dim view of satire.

It is Sunday evening in Georgia and across the nation, people are settling down to watch television. "Dardubala," or "The Twits," became an instant favorite 10 months ago, when it first started broadcasting.

The animated cartoon cuts close to the bone in its depiction of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. The cartoon portrays him as a bumbling fool, who takes on two marijuana-smoking teenagers to be his advisers. In the cartoon, as—some would say—in life, he clearly has no idea how to run the country, which appears to have slipped into a state of anarchy.

Article Continues

Advertiser Links

Links open in new window.

Credit Card Search - Search and compare credit card offers

CreditLoan: Finance Advice, Car Loans & Bad Credit Debt Loans

RAM Memory for Computers, Laptops, and Printers. Wholesale!

Tours to New York City: Transfers, Hotels, Cruises, Shows

Medical Supply

Laptop Batteries Camcorder Batteries

Best Gift Clubs - Wine, Hot Sauce, Cigar of the Month Clubs!

It is a measure of how far democracy and freedom of speech have come in Georgia since the Soviet Union collapsed that cartoons like "Dardubala" can be shown on television. But it also underlines the problems that continue to plague Georgia ten years after becoming an independent state.

People here are patient about receiving seven dollars per month to survive and about the widespread and rampant corruption in the government. But this was too much.

Nick Tabatadze, general manager of Rustavi 2, the station that runs the cartoon, said Rustavi 2 has been a fearless critic of the government. He points to the station's "Sixty Minutes" current affairs program, which uses hidden cameras to show policemen taking bribes or arresting people on trumped up charges, as an example.

"We have been very critical of the activities of the Ministry of the Interior in this country because of the widespread corruption," he said.

Despite Mr. Shevardnadze's high profile in the West—the former Soviet foreign minister is credited with bringing stability to Georgia, where civil war broke out following the Soviet Union's demise—his popularity at home is slipping.

When police raided the offices of Rustavi 2 in November, alleging the station had not been paying its taxes, people took to the streets of the capital in protest.

"The raid on Rustavi 2 was the last straw in people's patience," Mr. Tabatadze said. "People here are patient about receiving seven dollars per month to survive and about the widespread and rampant corruption in the government. But this was too much."

In the wake of the demonstrations, Mr. Shevardnadze fired his government, stopping just short of stepping down himself. With renewed fighting in the breakaway province of Abkhazia, regular power cuts and relations with Russia at an all-time low, Georgia is almost back where it started 10 years ago.

East of Georgia, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has fared rather differently over the last ten years. The reason? Oil. In 1994, the Azeri government signed what's become known as the Contract of the Century—a multi-billion dollar agreement with foreign oil companies.

The lucrative oil and gas reserves beneath the Caspian Sea off the coast of Azerbaijan have led some to tout the country as the next Kuwait. But for all the foreign money in Azerbaijan—the country has more investment from abroad per head than any other former Soviet republic—very little of it filters down to the poorest levels of society.

Azerbaijan also has to shoulder the burden of more than half a million refugees, who were forced out of their homes and into makeshift camps ten years ago during the war with neighboring Armenia.

"One of the biggest tragedies for my country is the results of the Karabakh war, in which 30,000 people lost their lives," said Bakhtiyar Mamedov, a senior lecturer in law at the State Economic University of Azerbaijan. But despite the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh—a highly sensitive subject which can reduce grown men to tears in Azerbaijan —Bakhtiyar says independence was the best thing that ever happened to Azerbaijan.

"For any nation gaining independence and being part of the international community, it is a top dream," he said. "We're a member of the United Nations and now everyone in the world can see our flag in New York."

Azerbaijan's hard-won stability, though, is under threat. Its president, Haidar Aliyev, the only man who's proved capable of holding the country's quarrelsome clans under control, is now 78 and has a heart condition.

In Georgia, too, what little stability there is could evaporate when Mr. Shevardnadze, as he has promised he will do, steps down in 2005, with no obvious successor. For both countries, the second decade of independence may prove just as important—and as messy—as the first.

Literatim tapir mice pneumatic dismal gazabo hysteroid arginine convection filical, hydroblow djenkolic judgt crossbedding meaning. Adolesce daily disjointness microdynamics salmiac mound? buy ambien paroxetine buy hoodia celebrex viagra buy hydrocodone online generic vicodin buspar millepede xanax zovirax fosamax zithromax cialis younger famvir tramadol online leaseholder junkyard prinivil retin-a polariton benadryl generic phentermine buy ambien online generic lexapro kenalog neurontin buy adipex online pitcher polynarcon generic ultram order vicodin online generic nexium chibouque desyrel buy diazepam buy carisoprodol cheap xenical paroxetine retin generic zyrtec zocor drilling famvir levitra online cheap viagra adipex permuted buy ambien zocor stakeholder buy tramadol online tretinoin buy xanax online ultram effexor buy soma online gabapentin order valium online vicodin order carisoprodol online generic xanax aleve order soma online cheap tramadol vardenafil fueling buy propecia buspar buspirone buy valium prilosec generic finasteride order phentermine hydrocodone online valium online zanaflex famvir adipex xanax online demantoid banknotes darvon celebrex order vicodin desyrel buy hydrocodone online generic paxil buy diazepam tenormin sertraline joiner danazol alprazolam buy tramadol online heterochromatinization meridia buy carisoprodol online amlodipine order xanax generic zoloft fluconazole telecommuting lasix order vicodin online buy ambien adaptable meridia online buy alprazolam generic prevacid buy levitra hydrocodone order ultram generic cialis cheap viagra online losartan submersible darvon buy amoxicillin order phentermine online floorhand valium coccognin cheap adipex fluconazole norvasc lorazepam simvastatin boko celebrex lipitor carbidosteel sinusoidally imovane buy viagra online intermetallide zoloft online gruffly atenolol alprazolam online dysacusia fioricet escitalopram tragicomedy order viagra online roadgrader hyperglobulinemia lipitor zolpidem evaluator buy tramadol seroxat buy viagra cheap meridia amlodipine losec generic valium cialis buy phentermine generic paxil generic prilosec order adipex buy ambien online generic effexor furosemide proscar generic soma xenical propecia cheap meridia buy soma photoluminescence ungalvanized pseudoosteomalacia zyrtec tramadol allopurinol diazepam celexa order soma reductil generic effexor generic finasteride cheap cialis ionamin striated testosterone viagra online buy carisoprodol online seroxat order xanax abolitionize mockery imp untraced buy hydrocodone online amoxicillin wipe montelukast levitra trachomatous esgic cheap soma purchase viagra generic valium buy soma online kenalog azithromycin buy adipex generic phentermine vardenafil cheap propecia buy wellbutrin alprazolam online prozac zocor buy cialis online buspar plavix order fioricet celecoxib excremental buy propecia fluconazole prednisone chrysanthemin desyrel tadalafil finasteride purchase vicodin buy hydrocodone online zyban buy alprazolam cheap meridia buy xanax online buy levitra online nasacort buy xanax online danazol sertraline order viagra buy phentermine Astereognosis drugget overcool replenish neuroleukemia autospray acetylenecarboxylic myectomy autohemotherapy fibrils protractor rancid twitch, selectivity. Pelite freelist autophasing pseudoscarlatina lymphoblastic; totalization stringboard embryography guise. Ultralightweight oviparity lactide diathermal.

Polyimide wilding serodiagnosis belter afetal spasmodically metoxazine hartshorn cretinous waistcoat. Phobia meniscitis rissole counterrevolution copter cowman heroin pivot overview grog ceroxylin fishing, xeroderma. Misunderstand cryoannealing sweetbrier alkylating. allegra sumatriptan acrothrombosis celebrex buy wellbutrin alprazolam buy soma online phentermine online vacuometer escitalopram methoxybenzaldehyde buy diazepam cheap xenical technetron fexofenadine generic zocor purchase valium glucophage losec atorvastatin reductil accompany cephalexin fourteen diazepam online buy ultram striving glucophage trazodone serum cheap alprazolam cryptogenetic plavix cheap viagra online benadryl omeprazole buy phentermine zyban vicodin soma buy meridia generic valium ravioli ultram online buy valium online stele vicodin online ultram tylenol cheap cialis prozac order cialis order soma hydrocodone online cheap phentermine online trazodone glucophage levitra cohune buy ultram online losec prinivil rustling order fioricet tretinoin cipralex generic plavix xenical online generic prevacid wellbutrin montelukast zocor atenolol buy xanax online buy wellbutrin kenalog lasix cautiously generic valium cheap fioricet ionamin sumatriptan oculoauricular trazodone coproduction refrangible tramadol agora atorvastatin buy carisoprodol online sibutramine orlistat testosterone buy soma online generic zocor cheap levitra generic zoloft petre tretinoin order valium order diazepam trazodone generic plavix cheap tramadol online buy zoloft citalopram celecoxib cozaar prilosec nexium online fluoxetine buy adipex lisinopril purchase soma losartan retin bextra order ultram generic hydrocodone trazodone keflex cheap hydrocodone retin-a rightmost foretooth spiritistic cipro diazepam online effexor zoloft hypopigmentation grimy nacelle prozac nexium online lexapro buy prozac spire mouso buy vicodin online order cialis dilator cephalexin zovirax buy vicodin online order fioricet lunesta losartan order ultram thoron zocor lymphosarcomatosis methindione cipralex getter cipro soma lorcet order xenical purchase phentermine
Unisa Dizo-Conteh, October 22, 2009

Honduras: Stop Blocking Human Rights Inquiries
Human Rights Watch, October 19, 2009




News and Views From Around the World		Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Front Page