Category: Azer News

On November 1, a press conference on ‘Recent events in Sudan (Al-Fashir genocide)’ was held at the Sudanese Embassy in Azerbaijan for local media representatives, Azernews reports.

The event focused on the ongoing situation in Sudan, particularly the humanitarian tragedy in the city of Al-Fashir and across the Darfur region, as well as the response of the international community.

During the conference, a video presentation depicted scenes of terror and mass killings committed in the region. The footage showed women shot by armed groups, children killed, people hanging from trees, homes set ablaze, and patients murdered inside hospitals – all indicating that the victims were civilians.

Sudanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Anas Eltayeb Elgailani Mustafa said that these atrocities have forced thousands to flee their homes, leading to large-scale internal displacement.

The ambassador stressed that the Sudanese government has called on the international community to launch a comprehensive investigation, ensure accountability for those responsible, and provide urgent humanitarian assistance to affected populations.

He added that Sudan remains committed to cooperating with all regional and international partners to restore peace and stability across the country.

It was highlighted that as a result of ongoing military operations and violence, thousands of civilians have lost their lives, entire settlements have been destroyed, and tens of thousands have been displaced. Al-Fashir and its surrounding areas are currently witnessing crimes that amount to ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The embassy urged the international community and the UN Security Council to take a firm stance on these events, hold the perpetrators accountable, and officially recognize the armed group responsible as a terrorist organization.

It was also emphasized that Sudanese intelligence has documented evidence of foreign and regional support, including the provision of weapons and financial resources to the rebel groups, further escalating the conflict.

Drawing a powerful parallel, the embassy underscored that the tragedy in Al-Fashir bears resemblance to the Khojaly genocide, stressing that the ongoing silence of international organizations contradicts fundamental principles of human rights and justice.

The Sudanese government reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to peace, stability, humanitarian assistance, and political dialogue as the path toward ending the conflict.

The embassy expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union, and Trkiye for their continued support and solidarity with Sudan.

Tens of thousands gathered in Novi Sad on Saturday to commemorate the first anniversary of the railway station roof collapse that killed 16 people – a tragedy that has become a symbol of public outrage over corruption and government negligence, Azernews reports, citing local media.

Participants observed 16 minutes of silence at 11:52 a.m., the exact time of the collapse. Many demonstrators, including students, marched over 100 kilometers from Belgrade to honor the victims and demand accountability.

The 2024 disaster prompted the prime minister’s resignation and criminal charges against 13 officials, including a former minister. Under growing pressure, President Aleksandar Vucic issued a rare apology and called for national dialogue on Friday.

An EU-backed corruption investigation into the reconstruction project remains underway.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the occasion of the national holiday of Algeria – Revolution Day, Azernews reports.

“This historic day, inscribed with golden letters in the heroic chronicle of your country, is a manifestation of the Algerian people’s determination for independence and freedom, their unwavering will, national unity, and solidarity.

Traditional friendship and brotherly relations unite Azerbaijan and Algeria. We attach great importance to the development of these relations and the expansion of our cooperation.

I am confident that, in line with the interests of our peoples, mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries-both bilaterally and on multilateral platforms-will continue successfully through our joint efforts.

On this holiday, I wish You robust health, happiness, and success in Your endeavors, and lasting peace and prosperity to the fraternal Algerian people,” the letter reads.

At least nine people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday in a crowd surge at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district, Azernews reports, citing international media.

The tragedy occurred during the ‘Ekadashi’ observance, a major Hindu religious event that attracts large gatherings of devotees. Authorities said the stampede began after an iron grille used to control queues collapsed, sparking panic in the crowd.

‘Initially, we had reports of seven deaths, but two more people have succumbed to their injuries,’ said district official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar. Emergency services remain at the scene, and an investigation into the incident has been launched.

On October 31, another event of the project ‘Fly to Baku. Art Weekend. Sense the Future NOW’ – the presentation of ” Pistachio: Living Heritage” – was held at the Magsud Ibrahimbeyov Creativity Center, Azernews reports.

The event began with a monodrama based on Maqsud Ibrahimbeyov’s story “The Pistachio Tree”.

Centered around the pistachio tree – a powerful symbol of the unbreakable connection between past and present – the performance immerses the audience in a world of emotions, memories, and nostalgia.

This poignant story, one of Ibrahimbeyov’s most impactful works, narrates events through the eyes of a child. In this monodrama, the role of the grown man reflecting on his childhood during wartime years was performed by Shovgi Huseynov, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan.

Audiences traveled alongside him into the intimate courtyard of old Baku, where a large pistachio tree stands at the heart of life and memory.

Following the performance, a triptych – a set of three carpets woven by “Azarxalcha” LLC – was presented. The composition was viewed by Leyla Aliyeva, Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Association.

The artwork symbolizes how life can renew and flourish even amid hardship. Water is portrayed as a key symbolic element throughout the triptych, uniting its three parts. Representing vital life force, water underscores the cyclical nature of growth and regeneration.

Later, a pistachio tree was planted on the center’s terrace with the participation of Leyla Aliyeva.

This ceremonial act serves as a symbolic gesture of care for water, nature, and life itself. The pistachio tree is seen as an emblem of unity – linking past and future, art and ecology, people and the land.

Subsequently, Leyla Aliyeva visited the Olive Festival held in the Old City (Icherisheher). She explored olives and olive-based products brought from various regions of the country. The visit unfolded in a warm and friendly atmosphere, with heartfelt conversations among city guests and tourists, and several commemorative photographs were taken.

As part of the ‘Fly to Baku. Art Weekend: Sense the Future NOW’ festival, a collective exhibition titled ‘Flowing Memory’ has opened in a 17th-century underground bath located in Baku’s Old City (Icherisheher). The exhibition offers a contemporary reinterpretation of Azerbaijan’s traditional bathhouse culture.

The project features works by Honored Artist Sabina Shikhlinskaya and young talents Nargiz Asgarova, Aliya Bayramova, and Timur Zaripov, Azernews reports.

According to curator Mansura Mammadaliyeva, the exhibition not only reflects traditions but also explores the multilayered meanings of bath culture in Azerbaijan through the lens of water, memory, and purification.

Sabina Shikhlinskaya presented her video installation ‘Hamam’, originally created in 2006 and successfully exhibited in about 15 countries over the years. The piece recreates the atmosphere of 16th-century men’s baths and pre-prayer purification rituals, accompanied by musical fragments from People’s Artist and composer Faraj Garayev’s ‘Nostalgia’ album, creating a meditative harmony between sound and visual rhythm.

The artist interprets the bathhouse as a transitional space between sin and purity, where water cleanses not only the body but also the spirit.

Nargiz Asgarova’s nano video-art piece ‘Be Like Water’ examines the cultural and symbolic dimensions of water as both the origin of life and a vessel of cultural continuity. In her work, the bathhouse serves as a ritual space of renewal and memory preservation, where digital technology underscores water’s transformative and mnemonic power.

In ‘Beyond the Flow,’ artists Aliya Bayramova and Timur Zaripov explore the cyclical cleansing and renewal of memory through visual montages of water and nature. Each image briefly appears, dissolving like a memory-symbolizing both purification and rebirth. Subtle ambient sounds accompany the visuals, inviting viewers into a delicate space between remembering and forgetting, where cleansing becomes an act of release and continuity.

The ‘Flowing Memory’ exhibition is part of the ‘Fly to Baku. Art Weekend: Sense the Future NOW’ festival, held from October 31 to November 2. The festival unites art, culture, and ecology, and is organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and IDEA Public Union in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan. The project’s author and initiator is Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and founder of IDEA.

As Azerbaijan accelerates its green transition, the Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) is rapidly positioning itself as the country’s flagship platform for clean technology and sustainable industrialization. The zone, located strategically near the Port of Alat south of Baku, is not only a logistics and manufacturing hub but increasingly a focal point for green investment and renewable energy innovation.

According to Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Board of the AFEZ Authority, about 200 hectares of land have already been allocated for development, with 138 hectares presented to investors. Among them, 23 hectares are reserved specifically for solar panel production facilities, marking one of Azerbaijan’s most tangible steps toward building a domestic green energy supply chain.

‘Three factories are planned – one focused exclusively on solar panel assembly, and two others producing silicon crystals and related materials,’ Alasgarov noted, emphasizing the integrated nature of this industrial ecosystem.

Already, companies from China, India, Russia, Israel, and Trkiye have registered in the zone, with four actively constructing facilities and two expected to start production by the end of this year.

The AFEZ offers investors one of the most favorable regulatory and fiscal frameworks in the region. The zone operates under an independent legal regime, ensuring that state institutions cannot interfere in its internal activities. Investors enjoy tax and customs exemptions, along with ready-to-use industrial plots equipped with complete infrastructure and communication systems.

This model is designed to attract export-oriented and high-value-added industries – at least 75% of goods produced in the zone must be exported – ensuring integration with global markets while protecting the domestic economy from potential imbalances.

Such an approach clearly illustrates Azerbaijan’s strategic vision to position Alat as a key gateway between Europe and Asia, serving not only as a hub for logistics and trade but also as a center for clean and sustainable industrial development. The design of the Free Economic Zone reflects the country’s broader economic agenda, where diversification and green transition intersect – aligning industrial policy with global sustainability goals.

Azerbaijan’s broader commitment to green energy provides the policy backbone for initiatives like AFEZ. Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov recently underlined the scale of progress in the country’s energy sector, noting in Azerbaijan newspaper that:

‘With the commissioning of new power plants, the total electricity generation capacity of our country has now reached 9,732.5 MW – an increase of 1,317 MW, or 15.6 percent, compared to the same period last year.’

He also highlighted the launch of the 1,880 MW ‘8 Noyabr’ Power Plant, calling it ‘a shining example of international partnership in the field of electricity,’ developed with Chinese and Italian companies.

This expanding energy mix includes renewable components, with 9 solar plants (278.2 MW) and 5 wind farms (63.5 MW) already in operation, alongside ongoing hybrid and waste-to-energy projects. The government’s declared goal of transforming Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur into ‘green energy zones’ demonstrates that renewable development is no longer peripheral – it is now a pillar of national economic policy.

The convergence of energy transition policies and investment liberalization makes the Alat Free Economic Zone a strategic experiment in sustainable industrial policy. By offering a business-friendly environment tied to renewable production, Azerbaijan is signaling to global investors that it aims to be a regional leader in green industry.

Experts argue that AFEZ could soon play a critical role in attracting technology transfers, green finance, and climate-friendly manufacturing – from solar panels and batteries to smart infrastructure components. The participation of international firms underscores growing confidence in Azerbaijan’s regulatory stability and long-term economic vision.

In essence, the Alat Free Economic Zone reflects Azerbaijan’s commitment to combining sustainable energy development with an open and competitive investment environment. The zone demonstrates the country’s readiness to attract international investors, promote clean industrial growth, and align economic diversification with global trends in renewable energy and innovation.

Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office (CMO), held a series of high-level meetings at the Vatican to discuss the strengthening of interreligious cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Holy See, Azernews reports.

During talks with Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, and Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, both sides praised the steady growth of bilateral relations. The discussions highlighted Azerbaijan’s policy of tolerance and multiculturalism, underscoring its success in fostering peaceful coexistence among diverse ethnic and religious communities.

The parties also welcomed the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s partnership with the Holy See, noting that their joint projects not only help preserve global cultural heritage but also advance interfaith understanding.

The meeting addressed the activities of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, including the construction of a second Catholic church. It was also announced that next year, the CMO, together with the Muslim Council of Elders and the UN Alliance of Civilizations, will host an international conference on intra-Islamic dialogue and combating Islamophobia.

Pashazade invited Cardinals Koovakad and Gugerotti to take part in the event and reaffirmed the CMO’s commitment to expanding dialogue with the Vatican.

The Vatican side described Azerbaijan’s interfaith environment as a global model, stressing the importance of promoting it internationally.

Azerbaijan’s Ambassadors to the Holy See, Ilgar Mukhtarov, and to Italy, Rashad Aslanov, also attended the meetings. Sheikhulislam Pashazade later met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, where both sides reaffirmed the exemplary level of Azerbaijan-Vatican relations.

The open court hearing on the criminal cases against citizens of the Republic of Armenia – Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Davit Ishkhanyan, David Babayan, Levon Mnatsakanyan, and others – accused of committing crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes, including the preparation and conduct of an aggressive war, genocide, violations of the laws and customs of war, as well as terrorism, financing of terrorism, violent seizure and retention of power, and numerous other offenses resulting from Armenia’s military aggression against Azerbaijan, continued on October 31.

The trial was held at the Baku Military Court under the chairmanship of Judge Zeynal Agayev, with Judges Jamal Ramazanov and Anar Rzayev (reserve judge Gunel Samedova) participating in the panel. Each defendant was provided with an interpreter in their preferred language and legal counsel for their defense.

The hearing was attended by the defendants, their lawyers, some of the victims, their legal successors and representatives, as well as prosecutors representing the state prosecution.

At the beginning of the session, the defense lawyer of the accused Levon Mnatsakanyan, Ogtay Madatov, addressed the court, requesting a meeting with his client during the break. The judge stated that appropriate conditions would be provided for this during the recess.

Defendant David Manukyan then filed a motion, stating that he did not agree with certain aspects of the charges brought against him. He requested that the accusation related to the creation of a criminal organization be removed from the parts of the criminal case concerning him, and that his case be separated into a distinct proceeding.

Manukyan’s defense lawyer supported the motion.

State prosecutor Fuad Musayev, commenting on the motion, noted that the current stage of the proceedings is not the phase for evaluating evidence, and that the issue raised by the defense pertains to that later stage. The prosecution stated that it would present its position on the matter after the completion of the judicial investigation, during the final statements, and reminded that the court would assess the evidence in the deliberation room.

After hearing the representatives of the victims, the court ruled that the motion was unfounded and rejected it.

Subsequently, the defense lawyer of the accused Madat Babayan, Leyla Namazzade, filed a motion requesting that certain episodes of the charges against her client be removed. The defendant agreed with the motion filed by his lawyer.

Prosecutor Taranah Mammadova stated that the issues raised in the motion were not relevant to the current stage of the trial and would be evaluated by the court during its deliberations. The court announced that the matters mentioned in the motion would be considered in the deliberation room and therefore left the motion unexamined.

Defendant Bako Sahakyan answered questions from his lawyer regarding the evidence he had submitted at the previous hearing.

Later, the defense lawyer of Levon Mnatsakanyan informed the court that, during his meeting with his client, the latter had provided several documents from his personal archive to be added to the case file, and presented them to the court.

The lawyer of defendant Levon Balayan, Saqi Mammadov, also requested a confidential meeting with his client. Judge Zeynal Agayev stated that the necessary conditions would be provided for this during the break.

At the end of the hearing, the presiding judge inquired about the parties’ opinions regarding the conclusion of the judicial investigation. None of the parties objected to the completion of this stage.

Vusal Aliyev, Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor General, noted that the prosecution was satisfied with the evidence presented during the trial.

The presiding judge declared the judicial investigation phase closed and reminded the participants that during the final statements, the parties may refer only to the evidence examined in court.

The prosecutors requested time until November 3 to prepare their closing statements. It was decided that the next hearing would begin with the parties’ closing arguments.

The trial will continue on November 3.

Fifteen defendants of Armenian origin are accused in the criminal case concerning numerous crimes committed during the aggressive war waged by the Armenian state – including the aforementioned criminal association – on the territory of Azerbaijan, in violation of domestic and international legal norms. These crimes were committed for the purpose of military aggression against Azerbaijan and were carried out under the direct leadership and participation of the Armenian state, officials of its state institutions, its armed forces, and illegal armed formations, through their written and verbal orders, instructions, and guidelines; material, technical, and personnel support; centralized management; as well as under strict control and under the leadership and direct or indirect participation of Robert Sedraki Kocharyan, Serzh Azati Sargsyan, Vazgen Mikaeli Manukyan, Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan, Samvel Andraniki Babayan, Vitali Mikaeli Balasanyan, Zori Hayki Balayan, Seyran Musheghi Ohanyan, Arshavir Surenovich Garamyan, Monte Charles Melkonyan, and others.

The following individuals – Arayik Vladimiri Harutyunyan, Arkadi Arshaviri Ghukasyan, Bako Sahaki Sahakyan, Davit Rubeni Ishkhanyan, David Azatini Manukyan, Davit Klimi Babayan, Levon Henrikovich Mnatsakanyan, Vasili Ivani Beglaryan, Erik Roberti Ghazaryan, Davit Nelsoni Allahverdiyan, Gurgen Homeri Stepanyan, Levon Romiki Balayan, Madat Arakelovich Babayan, Garik Grigori Martirosyan, and Melikset Vladimiri Pashayan – are being charged under the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan: Article 100 (planning, preparing, initiating, and waging a war of aggression); Article 102 (attacking persons or organizations enjoying international protection); Article 103 (genocide); Article 105 (extermination of the population); Article 106 (enslavement); Article 107 (deportation or forced displacement of population); Article 109 (persecution); Article 110 (enforced disappearance of persons); Article 112 (deprivation of liberty contrary to international law); Article 113 (torture); Article 114 (mercenary service); Article 115 (violation of the laws and customs of warfare); Article 116 (violation of international humanitarian law during armed conflict); Article 118 (military robbery); Article 120 (intentional murder); Article 192 (illegal entrepreneurship); Article 214 (terrorism); Article 214-1 (financing terrorism); Article 218 (creation of a criminal organization); Article 228 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, and possession of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and devices); Article 270-1 (acts threatening aviation security); Article 277 (assassination of a state official or public figure); Article 278 (forcible seizure and retention of power, forcible change of the constitutional structure of the state); Article 279 (creation of armed groups not provided for by law); and additional articles.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met on Saturday during the APEC summit in Gyeongju to discuss expanding military and security cooperation, Azernews reports, citing foreign media.

The talks focused on the joint development of the KF-21 fighter jet, a long-term defense project both nations launched over a decade ago.

President Lee emphasized the need to sustain the partnership, noting that ‘negotiations are ongoing and depend on economic, pricing, and financing factors.’