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Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso their radio frequencies in the country in 2009. Current President Ilham Aliyev (who replaced his father in 2003) abolished presidential term limits via referendum in 2009. The most recent parliamentary elections in 2010 were described as a farce by Human Rights House, with no opposition party members winning seats. And amidst all of this, Azerbaijan boasts of it modernity in widely-distributed self-promo videos and in public statements made abroad, conveniently forgetting to mention anything about the illegal evictions that have been carried out systematically over the last three years, especially in the main downtown Baku area, in order to make way for new construction projects (some 4000 houses were demolished in total) and the so-called city beautification projects. Nor do any of the promo materials show beaten and hospitalized journalists, arrested political prisoners, and activists...all taking place in a country that has pledged to guarantee freedom of speech as a member of the Council of Europe.
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Described by Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of the Azerbaijani president, it is unlike anything seen before with an amazing seaside panorama. The hall is located on the Caspian Sea east of National Flag Square with a 162-meter flagpole. The construction of the hall came at a high price, but not for the local authorities. Baku officials ordered the demolition of hundreds of homes around the concert hall and the surrounding area. These claims however were quickly dismissed by the Azerbaijan authorities as being part of larger infrastructural city development project (similar to the city beautification project). After the concert hall was completed, an article in Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty exposed a linkage between the Presidential family and the construction of the hall. According to the article, the family profited from the construction of the venue through its hidden ownership in the Azenco construction company.
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