Photo Gallery Baku's Image Problem
Azerbaijan's leader, President Ilham Aliyev (right), is seen here with his wife Mehriban, in an archive photo. The country is currently seeking to burnish its image abroad and has been spending a lot of money to do so, hiring PR experts and lobbyists in Germany and other European countries.
The act Ell and Nikki from Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Germany, this year, which means that the world's largest non-sporting television event will be held in the capital city of Baku on May 26.
But the country has an image problem. Here, a policeman can be seen detaining an opposition activist in Baku on March 12. The former Soviet republic has a reputation for not being a stickler for human rights. Amnesty International accuses the regime of muting its critics. In Germany, where political luminaries recently attended an Azerbaijani independence celebration, some are asking why well-respected politicians would be needlessly helping an authoritarian regime gain more respectability?
In the past, paid trips for politicians to travel to Baku (pictured here) have been offered. At least one trip included business-class seats, lodging in a luxury hotel, a gala dinner and a speech delivered by President Aliyev. Allowing this man's followers to pay for airplane trips and expensive hotels is a matter of sensitivity and tact.
Graphic: Azerbaijan in Figures
