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901 | Antisemitism | conflict since the majority of the perpetrators are from the large Muslim immigrant communities in European cities. However, compared to France, the United Kingdom and much of the rest of Europe, in Germany Arab and pro-Palestinian groups are involved in only a small percentage of antisemitic incidents. According to "The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism", most of the more extreme attacks on Jewish sites and physical attacks on Jews in Europe come from militant Islamic and Muslim groups, and most Jews tend to be assaulted in countries where groups of young Muslim immigrants reside. | 124 | 631 |
902 | Antisemitism | On 1 January 2006, Britain's chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, warned that what he called a "tsunami of antisemitism" was spreading globally. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Sacks said: "A number of my rabbinical colleagues throughout Europe have been assaulted and attacked on the streets. We've had synagogues desecrated. We've had Jewish schools burnt to the ground—not here but in France. People are attempting to silence and even ban Jewish societies on campuses on the grounds that Jews must support the state of Israel, therefore they should be banned, which is quite extraordinary because... British Jews see themselves | 140 | 629 |
903 | Antisemitism | as British citizens. So it's that kind of feeling that you don't know what's going to happen next that's making... some European Jewish communities uncomfortable." Following an escalation in antisemitism in 2012, which included the deadly shooting of three children at a Jewish school in France, the European Jewish Congress demanded in July a more proactive response. EJC President Moshe Kantor explained, "We call on authorities to take a more proactive approach so there would be no reason for statements of regret and denunciation. All these smaller attacks remind me of smaller tremors before a massive earthquake. The Jewish community | 128 | 640 |
904 | Antisemitism | cannot afford to be subject to an earthquake and the authorities cannot say that the writing was not on the wall." He added that European countries should take legislative efforts to ban any form of incitement, as well as to equip the authorities with the necessary tools to confront any attempt to expand terrorist and violent activities against Jewish communities in Europe. France is home to the continent's largest Jewish community (about 600,000). Jewish leaders decry an intensifying antisemitism in France, mainly among Muslims of Arab or African heritage, but also growing among Caribbean islanders from former French colonies. Former | 124 | 642 |
905 | Antisemitism | Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy denounced the killing of Ilan Halimi on 13 February 2006 as an antisemitic crime. Jewish philanthropist Baron Eric de Rothschild suggests that the extent of antisemitism in France has been exaggerated. In an interview with "The Jerusalem Post" he says that "the one thing you can't say is that France is an anti-Semitic country." In March 2012, Mohammed Merah opened fire at a Jewish school in Toulouse, killing a teacher and three children. An 8-year-old girl was shot in the head at point blank range. President Nicolas Sarkozy said that it was "obvious" it was an | 141 | 600 |
906 | Antisemitism | antisemitic attack and that, "I want to say to all the leaders of the Jewish community, how close we feel to them. All of France is by their side." The Israeli Prime Minister condemned the "despicable anti-Semitic" murders. After a 32-hour siege and standoff with the police outside his house, and a French raid, Merah jumped off a balcony and was shot in the head and killed. Merah told police during the standoff that he intended to keep on attacking, and he loved death the way the police loved life. He also claimed connections with al-Qaeda. 4 months later, in | 130 | 565 |
907 | Antisemitism | July 2012, a French Jewish teenager wearing a "distinctive religious symbol" was the victim of a violent antisemitic attack on a train travelling between Toulouse and Lyon. The teen was first verbally harassed and later beaten up by two assailants. Richard Prasquier from the French Jewish umbrella group, CRIF, called the attack "another development in the worrying trend of anti-Semitism in our country." Another incident in July 2012 dealt with the vandalism of the synagogue of Noisy-le-Grand of the Seine-Saint-Denis district in Paris. The synagogue was vandalized three times in a ten-day period. Prayer books and shawls were thrown on | 142 | 641 |
908 | Antisemitism | the floor, windows were shattered, drawers were ransacked, and walls, tables, clocks, and floors were vandalized. The authorities were alerted of the incidents by the Bureau National de Vigilance Contre L'Antisémtisme (BNVCA), a French antisemitism watchdog group, which called for more measures to be taken to prevent future hate crimes. BNVCA President Sammy Ghozlan stated that, "Despite the measures taken, things persist, and I think that we need additional legislation, because the Jewish community is annoyed." In August 2012, Abraham Cooper, the dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, met French Interior Minister Manuel Valls and reported that antisemitic attacks against | 152 | 678 |
909 | Antisemitism | French Jews increased by 40% since Merah's shooting spree in Toulouse. Cooper pressed Valls to take extra measures to secure the safety of French Jews, as well as to discuss strategies to foil an increasing trend of lone-wolf terrorists on the Internet. Wolfgang Schäuble, the Interior Minister of Germany in 2006, pointed out the official policy of Germany: "We will not tolerate any form of extremism, xenophobia or anti-Semitism." Although the number of extreme right-wing groups and organisations grew from 141 (2001) to 182 (2006), especially in the formerly communist East Germany, Germany's measures against right-wing groups and antisemitism are | 142 | 653 |
910 | Antisemitism | effective, despite Germany having the highest rates of antisemitic acts in Europe. According to the annual reports of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution the overall number of far-right extremists in Germany dropped during the last years from 49,700 (2001), 45,000 (2002), 41,500 (2003), 40,700 (2004), 39,000 (2005), to 38,600 in 2006. Germany provided several million euros to fund "nationwide programs aimed at fighting far-right extremism, including teams of traveling consultants, and victims' groups." In July 2012, two women were assaulted in Germany, sprayed with tear gas, and were shown a "Hitler salute," apparently because of a | 161 | 661 |
911 | Antisemitism | Star of David necklace that they wore. In late August 2012, Berlin police investigated an attack on a 53-year-old rabbi and his 6-year-old daughter, allegedly by four Arab teens, after which the rabbi needed treatment for head wounds at a hospital. The police classified the attack as a hate crime. "Jüdische Allgemeine" reported that the rabbi was wearing a kippah and was approached by one of the teens, who asked the rabbi if he was Jewish. The teen then attacked the rabbi while yelling antisemitic comments, and threatened to kill the rabbi's daughter. Berlin's mayor condemned the attack, saying that | 143 | 606 |
912 | Antisemitism | "Berlin is an international city in which intolerance, xenophobia and anti-Semitism are not being tolerated. Police will undertake all efforts to find and arrest the perpetrators." In October 2012, various historians, including Dr. Julius H. Schoeps, a prominent German-Jewish historian and a member of the German Interior Ministry's commission to combat antisemitism, charged the majority of Bundestag deputies with failing to understand antisemitism and the imperativeness of periodic legislative reports on German antisemitism. Schoeps cited various antisemitic statements by German parliament members as well. The report in question determined that 15% of Germans are antisemitic while over 20% espouse "latent | 146 | 714 |
913 | Antisemitism | anti-Semitism," but the report has been criticized for downplaying the sharpness of antisemitism in Germany, as well as for failing to examine anti-Israel media coverage in Germany. Antisemitism in Greece manifests itself in religious, political and media discourse. The recent Greek government-debt crisis has facilitated the rise of far right groups in Greece, most notably the formerly obscure Golden Dawn. Jews have lived in Greece since antiquity, but the largest community of around 20,000 Sephardic Jews settled in Thessalonica after an invitation from the Ottoman Sultan in the 15th century. After Thessalonica was annexed to Greece in 1913, the Greek | 143 | 659 |
914 | Antisemitism | government recognized Jews as Greek citizens with full rights and attributed Judaism the status of a recognized and protected religion. Currently in Greece, Jewish communities representing the 5,000 Greek Jews are legal entities under public law. According to the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) report of 2015, the "ADL Global 100", a report of the status of antisemitism in 100 countries around the world, 69% of the adult population in Greece harbor antisemitic attitudes and 85% think that "Jews have too much power in the business world". In March 2015, a survey about the Greeks' perceptions of the holocaust was published. Its | 143 | 630 |
915 | Antisemitism | findings showed that less than 60 percent of the respondents think that holocaust teaching should be included in the curriculum. In the 21st century, antisemitism in Hungary has evolved and received an institutional framework, while verbal and physical aggression against Jews has escalated, creating a great difference between its earlier manifestations in the 1990s and recent developments. One of the major representatives of this institutionalized antisemitic ideology is the popular Hungarian party Jobbik, which received 17 percent of the vote in the April 2010 national election. The far-right subculture, which ranges from nationalist shops to radical-nationalist and neo-Nazi festivals and | 136 | 698 |
916 | Antisemitism | events, plays a major role in the institutionalization of Hungarian antisemitism in the 21st century. The contemporary antisemitic rhetoric has been updated and expanded, but is still based on the old antisemitic notions. The traditional accusations and motifs include such phrases as Jewish occupation, international Jewish conspiracy, Jewish responsibility for the Treaty of Trianon, Judeo-Bolshevism, as well as blood libels against Jews. Nevertheless, the past few years have seen the reemergence of the blood libel and an increase in Holocaust relativization and denial, while the monetary crisis has revived references to the "Jewish banker class". The ongoing political conflict between | 141 | 693 |
917 | Antisemitism | Israel and Palestine has played an important role in the development and expression of antisemitism in the 21st century, and in Italy as well. The Second Intifada, which began in late September 2000, has set in motion unexpected mechanisms, whereby traditional anti-Jewish prejudices were mixed with politically based stereotypes. In this belief system, Israeli Jews were charged with full responsibility for the fate of the peace process and with the conflict presented as embodying the struggle between good (the Palestinians) and evil (the Israeli Jews). The Netherlands has the second highest incidence of antisemitic incidents in the European Union. However, | 131 | 663 |
918 | Antisemitism | it is difficult to obtain exact figures because the specific groups against whom attacks are made are not specifically identified in police reports, and analyses of police data for antisemitism therefore relies on key-word searches, e.g. "Jew" or "Israel". According to Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), a pro-Israel lobby group in the Netherlands, the number of antisemitic incidents reported in the whole of the Netherlands was 108 in 2008, 93 in 2009, and 124 in 2010. Some two thirds of this are acts of aggression. There are approximately 52 000 Dutch Jews. According to the NRC Handelsblad | 144 | 620 |
919 | Antisemitism | newspaper, the number of antisemitic incidents in Amsterdam was 14 in 2008 and 30 in 2009. In 2010, Raphaël Evers, an orthodox rabbi in Amsterdam, told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten that Jews can no longer be safe in the city anymore due to the risk of violent assaults. "We Jews no longer feel at home here in the Netherlands. Many people talk about moving to Israel," he said. According to the Anne Frank Foundation, antisemitism in the Netherlands in 2011 was roughly at the same level as in 2010. Actual antisemitic incidents increased from 19 in 2010 to 30 in | 149 | 570 |
920 | Antisemitism | 2011. Verbal antisemitic incidents dropped slightly from 1173 in 2010 to 1098 in 2011. This accounts for 75%–80% of all verbal racist incidents in the Netherlands. Antisemitism is more prevalent in the age group 23–27 years, which is a younger group than that of racist incidents in general. In 2010, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation after one year of research, revealed that antisemitism was common among some 8th, 9th, and 10th graders in Oslo's schools. Teachers at schools with large numbers of Muslims revealed that Muslim students often "praise or admire Adolf Hitler for his killing of Jews", that "Jew-hate is | 157 | 623 |
921 | Antisemitism | legitimate within vast groups of Muslim students" and that "Muslims laugh or command [teachers] to stop when trying to educate about the Holocaust". Additionally, "while some students might protest when some express support for terrorism, none object when students express hate of Jews", saying that it says in "the Quran that you shall kill Jews, all true Muslims hate Jews". Most of these students were said to be born and raised in Norway. One Jewish father also stated that his child had been taken by a Muslim mob after school (though the child managed to escape), reportedly "to be taken | 123 | 593 |
922 | Antisemitism | out to the forest and hung because he was a Jew". Norwegian Education Minister Kristin Halvorsen referred to the antisemitism reported in this study as being "completely unacceptable." The head of a local Islamic council joined Jewish leaders and Halvorsen in denouncing such antisemitism. In October 2012, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe issued a report regarding antisemitism in Norway, criticizing Norway for an increase in antisemitism in the country and blaming Norwegian officials for failing to address antisemitism." The University of Warsaw’s study in 2016 found that 37% of surveyed Poles expressed negative attitudes towards Jews (up | 142 | 669 |
923 | Antisemitism | from 32% in 2015); 56% said that they wouldn't accept a Jew in their family (up from 46%); and 32% wouldn't want Jewish neighbors (up from 27%). In November 2015, following Antoni Macierewicz’s (Law and Justice party) designation as Minister of National Defence, he faced allegations of antisemitism and protests by the Anti Defamation League. In February 2018, the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that "there were Jewish perpetrators" of the Holocaust, "not only German perpetrators." Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, condemned Morawiecki's words: "This is nothing short of an attempt to falsify history, that | 161 | 652 |
924 | Antisemitism | is one of the very worst forms of anti-Semitism and Holocaust obfuscation." Israeli politician Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, said Morawiecki's remark is "anti-Semitism of the oldest kind." Since the early 2000s, levels of antisemitism in Russia have been low, and steadily decreasing. President of the Russian Jewish Congress attributes this in part to the vanished state sponsorship of antisemitism. At the same time experts warn that worsening economic conditions may lead to the surge of xenophobia and antisemitism in particular. Still, since the mid-2000s incorporation of antisemitic discourse into the platforms and speeches of nationalist | 145 | 666 |
925 | Antisemitism | political movements in Russia has been reported by human rights monitors in Russia as well as in the press. A number of prominent modern Russian politicians are known for their antisemitic views. After Germany and Austria, Sweden has the highest rate of antisemitic incidents in Europe, though the Netherlands has reported a higher rate of antisemitism in some years. A government study in 2006 estimated that 15% of Swedes agree with the statement: "The Jews have too much influence in the world today". 5% of the total adult population and 39% of adult Muslims "harbour systematic antisemitic views". The former | 133 | 613 |
926 | Antisemitism | prime minister Göran Persson described these results as "surprising and terrifying". However, the rabbi of Stockholm's Orthodox Jewish community, Meir Horden, said that "It's not true to say that the Swedes are anti-Semitic. Some of them are hostile to Israel because they support the weak side, which they perceive the Palestinians to be." In 2009, a synagogue that served the Jewish community in Malmö was set ablaze. Jewish cemeteries were repeatedly desecrated, worshippers were abused while returning home from prayer, and masked men mockingly chanted "Hitler" in the streets. As a result of security concerns, Malmö's synagogue has guards and | 147 | 648 |
927 | Antisemitism | rocket-proof glass in the windows, and the Jewish kindergarten can only be reached through thick steel security doors. In early 2010, the Swedish publication "The Local" published series of articles about the growing antisemitism in Malmö, Sweden. In 2009, the Malmö police received reports of 79 antisemitic incidents, which was twice the number of the previous year (2008). Fredrik Sieradzki, spokesman for the Malmö Jewish community, estimated that the already small Jewish population is shrinking by 5% a year. "Malmö is a place to move away from," he said, citing antisemitism as the primary reason. In March 2010, Fredrik Sieradzk | 154 | 636 |
928 | Antisemitism | told "Die Presse", an Austrian Internet publication, that Jews are being "harassed and physically attacked" by "people from the Middle East," although he added that only a small number of Malmö's 40,000 Muslims "exhibit hatred of Jews." In October 2010, "The Forward" reported on the current state of Jews and the level of antisemitism in Sweden. Henrik Bachner, a writer and professor of history at the University of Lund, claimed that members of the Swedish Parliament have attended anti-Israel rallies where the Israeli flag was burned while the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah were waved, and the rhetoric was often | 136 | 616 |
929 | Antisemitism | antisemitic—not just anti-Israel. Judith Popinski, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor, stated that she is no longer invited to schools that have a large Muslim presence to tell her story of surviving the Holocaust. In December 2010, the Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a travel advisory concerning Sweden, advising Jews to express "extreme caution" when visiting the southern parts of the country due to an alleged increase in verbal and physical harassment of Jewish citizens in the city of Malmö. Ilmar Reepalu, the mayor of Malmö for over 15 years, has been accused of failing to protect the Jewish | 135 | 632 |
930 | Antisemitism | community in Malmö, causing 30 Jewish families to leave the city in 2010, and more preparing to leave, which has left the possibility that Malmö's Jewish community will disappear soon. Critics of Reepalu say that his statements, such as antisemitism in Malmö actually being an "understandable" consequence of Israeli policy in the Middle East, have encouraged young Muslims to abuse and harass the Jewish community. In an interview with "the Sunday Telegraph" in February 2010, Reepalu said, "There haven't been any attacks on Jewish people, and if Jews from the city want to move to Israel that is not a | 138 | 604 |
931 | Antisemitism | matter for Malmö," which renewed concerns about Reepalu. Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of the far-right Svoboda party, whose members hold senior positions in Ukraine's government, urged his party to fight "the Moscow-Jewish mafia ruling Ukraine." The "Algemeiner Journal" reported: "Svoboda supporters include among their heroes leaders of pro-Nazi World War II organizations known for their atrocities against Jews and Poles, such as the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), and the 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division." According to The Simon Wiesenthal Center (in January 2011) "Ukraine has, to the best of our knowledge, never conducted a single | 162 | 687 |
932 | Antisemitism | investigation of a local Nazi war criminal, let alone prosecuted a Holocaust perpetrator." According to "Der Spiegel", Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the far-right Right Sector, wrote: "I wonder how it came to pass that most of the billionaires in Ukraine are Jews?" Late February 2014 Yarosh pledged during a meeting with Israel’s ambassador in Kiev to fight all forms of racism. Right Sector's leader for West Ukraine, Oleksandr Muzychko, has talked about fighting "communists, Jews and Russians for as long as blood flows in my veins." Muzychko was shot dead on 24 March 2014. An official inquiry concluded he had | 145 | 610 |
933 | Antisemitism | shot himself in the heart at the end of a chase with the Ukrainian police. In April 2014, Donetsk Chief Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski said that "Anti-Semitic incidents in the Russian-speaking east were rare, unlike in Kiev and western Ukraine." In an April 2014 article about anti-Jewish violence in Ukraine in "Haaretz" no incidents outside this "Russian-speaking east" were mentioned. According to the Israel's Ambassador to Ukraine, the antisemitism occurs here much less frequently than in other European countries, and has more a hooligan's nature rather than a system. In 2017 an Institute for Jewish Policy Research survey found that the | 140 | 638 |
934 | Antisemitism | levels of anti-Semitism in Great Britain were among the lowest in the world, with 2.4% expressing multiple anti-Semitic attitudes, and about 70% having a favourable opinion of Jews. However, only 17% had a favourable opinion of Israel, with 33% holding an unfavourable view. In 2017, a report by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) found that the previous year, 2016, had been the worst on record for antisemitic hate crime in the UK. Prior to that, 2015 had been the worst year on record, and 2014 was the worst year on record before that. The report found that in 2016, antisemitic | 152 | 587 |
935 | Antisemitism | crime rose by 15% compared to 2015, or 45% compared to 2014. It also found that 1 in 10 antisemitic crimes was violent. Despite rising levels of antisemitic crime, the report said there had been a decrease in the charging of antisemitic crime. In the report's foreword, the CAA's Chairman wrote: "Britain has the political will to fight antisemitism and strong laws with which to do it, but those responsible for tackling the rapidly growing racist targeting of British Jews are failing to enforce the law. There is a very real danger of Jewish citizens emigrating, as has happened elsewhere | 140 | 591 |
936 | Antisemitism | in Europe unless there is radical change." Every year since 2015, the CAA has commissioned polling by YouGov concerning the attitude of the British public toward British Jews. In 2017, their polling found that 36% of British adults believed at least one of the antisemitic statements pollsters had shown them to be true, a reduction from 39% in 2016 and 45% in 2015. Additionally, the polling revealed widespread fear amongst British Jews, with almost 1 in 3 saying that they had considered emigrating in the last two years due to antisemitism, and 37% saying that they concealed their Judaism in | 141 | 596 |
937 | Antisemitism | public. The report gave various indications as to the cause of the fears, with British Jews identifying Islamist antisemitism, far-left antisemitism and far-right antisemitism as their main concerns, in that order. 78% of British Jews saying that they had witnessed antisemitism disguised as a political comment about Israel, 76% thoughts that political developments were contributing antisemitism, and 52% felt that the Crown Prosecution Service was not doing enough. In 2016, the Home Affairs Select Committee held an inquiry into the rise of antisemitism in the UK. The inquiry called David Cameron, Tim Farron, Angus Robertson, Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Livingstone and | 144 | 666 |
938 | Antisemitism | others to give evidence. In 2005, a group of British Members of Parliament set up an inquiry into antisemitism, which published its findings in 2006. Its report stated that "until recently, the prevailing opinion both within the Jewish community and beyond [had been] that antisemitism had receded to the point that it existed only on the margins of society." It found a reversal of this progress since 2000. The inquiry was reconstituted following a surge in antisemitic incidents in Britain during the summer of 2014, and the new inquiry published its report in 2015, making recommendations for reducing antisemitism. Although | 140 | 628 |
939 | Antisemitism | antisemitism in Canada is less prevalent than in many other countries, there have been recent incidents. For example, a 2004 study identified 24 incidents of antisemitism between 14 March and 14 July 2004 in Newfoundland, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and some smaller Ontario communities. The incidents included vandalism and other attacks on four synagogues, six cemeteries, four schools, and a number of businesses and private residences. In November 2005, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights examined antisemitism on college campuses. It reported that "incidents of threatened bodily injury, physical intimidation or property damage are now | 147 | 677 |
940 | Antisemitism | rare", but antisemitism still occurs on many campuses and is a "serious problem." The Commission recommended that the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights protect college students from antisemitism through vigorous enforcement of "Title VI" of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and further recommended that Congress clarify that Title VI applies to discrimination against Jewish students. On 19 September 2006, Yale University founded the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism (YIISA), the first North American university-based center for study of the subject, as part of its Institution for Social and Policy Studies. Director Charles Small | 134 | 681 |
941 | Antisemitism | of the Center cited the increase in antisemitism worldwide in recent years as generating a "need to understand the current manifestation of this disease". In June 2011, Yale voted to close this initiative. After carrying out a routine review, the faculty review committee said that the initiative had not met its research and teaching standards. Donald Green, then head of Yale's Institution for Social and Policy Studies, the body under whose aegis the antisemitism initiative was run, said that it had not had many papers published in the relevant leading journals or attracted many students. As with other programs that | 123 | 622 |
942 | Antisemitism | had been in a similar situation, the initiative had therefore been cancelled. This decision has been criticized by figures such as former U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Staff Director Kenneth L. Marcus, who is now the director of the Initiative to Combat Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism in America's Educational Systems at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, and Deborah Lipstadt, who described the decision as "weird" and "strange." Antony Lerman has supported Yale's decision, describing the YIISA as a politicized initiative that was devoted to the promotion of Israel rather than to serious research on antisemitism. A 2007 survey by | 135 | 652 |
943 | Antisemitism | the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) concluded that 15% of Americans hold antisemitic views, which was in-line with the average of the previous ten years, but a decline from the 29% of the early sixties. The survey concluded that education was a strong predictor, "with most educated Americans being remarkably free of prejudicial views." The belief that Jews have too much power was considered a common antisemitic view by the ADL. Other views indicating antisemitism, according to the survey, include the view that Jews are more loyal to Israel than America, and that they are responsible for the death of Jesus of | 135 | 612 |
944 | Antisemitism | Nazareth. The survey found that antisemitic Americans are likely to be intolerant generally, e.g. regarding immigration and free-speech. The 2007 survey also found that 29% of foreign-born Hispanics and 32% of African-Americans hold strong antisemitic beliefs, three times more than the 10% for whites. A 2009 study published in "Boston Review" found that nearly 25% of non-Jewish Americans blamed Jews for the financial crisis of 2008–2009, with a higher percentage among Democrats than Republicans. 32% of Democrats blamed Jews for the financial crisis, versus 18% for Republicans. In August 2012, the California state assembly approved a non-binding resolution that "encourages | 158 | 680 |
945 | Antisemitism | university leaders to combat a wide array of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel actions," although the resolution "is purely symbolic and does not carry policy implications." In April 2017, "Politico Magazine" published an article purporting to show links between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Jewish outreach organization Chabad-Lubavitch. The article was widely condemned, with the head of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt saying that it "evokes age-old myths about Jews". In November 2017, Jonathan Greenblatt, national director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, stated in an interview, “While anti-Semitic attitudes have remained consistent at 14%... anti-Semitic incidents | 156 | 729 |
946 | Antisemitism | have been on the rise. In 2016 we saw a 34% increase over the prior year in acts of harassment, vandalism, or violence directed at Jewish individuals and institutions. During the first three quarters of 2017, there was a 67% increase over the same period in 2016. We’ve seen double the number of incidents in K-12 schools, and almost a 60% increase on college campuses." On October 29, 2018, an antisemitic terrorist attacked the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In a 2009 news story, Michael Rowan and Douglas E. Schoen wrote, "In an infamous Christmas Eve speech several | 146 | 591 |
947 | Antisemitism | years ago, Chávez said the Jews killed Christ and have been gobbling up wealth and causing poverty and injustice worldwide ever since." Hugo Chávez stated that "[t]he world is for all of us, then, but it so happens that a minority, the descendants of the same ones that crucified Christ, the descendants of the same ones that kicked Bolívar out of here and also crucified him in their own way over there in Santa Marta, in Colombia. A minority has taken possession of all of the wealth of the world." In February 2012, opposition candidate for the 2012 Venezuelan presidential | 132 | 576 |
948 | Antisemitism | election Henrique Capriles was subject to what foreign journalists characterized as vicious attacks by state-run media sources. The "Wall Street Journal" said that Capriles "was vilified in a campaign in Venezuela's state-run media, which insinuated he was, among other things, a homosexual and a Zionist agent". A 13 February 2012 opinion article in the state-owned Radio Nacional de Venezuela, titled "The Enemy is Zionism" attacked Capriles' Jewish ancestry and linked him with Jewish national groups because of a meeting he had held with local Jewish leaders, saying, "This is our enemy, the Zionism that Capriles today represents... Zionism, along with | 145 | 657 |
949 | Antisemitism | capitalism, are responsible for 90% of world poverty and imperialist wars." Antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-Semitism or anti-semitism) is hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is generally considered to be a form of racism. It has also been characterized as a political ideology which serves as an organizing principle and unites disparate groups which are opposed to liberalism. Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from expressions of hatred of or discrimination against individual Jews to organized pogroms by mobs, state police, or even military attacks on | 143 | 680 |
950 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | Economy of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan has an economy that has completed its post-Soviet transition into a major oil based economy (with the completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline), from one where the state played the major role. Azerbaijan's GDP grew 41.7% in the first quarter of 2007, possibly the highest of any nation worldwide. Such rates cannot be sustained, but despite reaching 26.4% in 2005 (second highest GDP growth in the world in 2005 only to Equatorial Guinea), and 2006 over 34.6% (world highest), in 2008 dropped to 10.8%, and dropped further to 9.3% in 2009. The real GDP growth rate for | 161 | 607 |
951 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | 2011 was expected at 3.7% but had dropped to 0.1%. Large oil reserves are a major contributor to the economy. The national currency, the Azerbaijani manat, was stable in 2000, depreciating 3.8% against the dollar. The budget deficit equaled 1.3% of GDP in 2000. Progress on economic reform has generally lagged behind macroeconomic stabilization. The government has undertaken regulatory reforms in some areas, including substantial opening of trade policy, but inefficient public administration in which commercial and regulatory interests are co-mingled limit the impact of these reforms. The government has largely completed privatization of agricultural lands and small and medium-sized | 148 | 690 |
952 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | enterprises. In August 2000, the government launched a second-stage privatization program, in which many large state enterprises will be privatized. Since 2001, the economic activity in the country is regulated by the Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan Republic. Through the Soviet period, Azerbaijan had always been more developed industrially than Armenia and Georgia, two neighboring Transcaucasia countries - but also less diversified, as a result of slow investment in non-oil sector. With a history of industrial development of more than 100 years, Azerbaijan proved to be a leading nation in Southern Caucasus throughout the turmoil of Soviet Union collapse | 132 | 676 |
953 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | in early 1990s until nowadays. Oil remains the most prominent product of Azerbaijan's economy with cotton, natural gas and agriculture products contributing to its economic growth over the last five years. More than $60 billion was invested into Azerbaijan's oil by major international oil companies in AIOC consortium operated by BP. Oil production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, began in November 1997 and now is about 500,000 b/d. People visit petroleum spas (or "oil spas") to bathe in the local crude in Naftalan A leading caviar producer and exporter in the past, Azerbaijan's | 136 | 635 |
954 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | fishing industry today is concentrated on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan shares all the problems of the former Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but its energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Azerbaijan has begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic ties and structures are slowly being replaced. An obstacle to economic progress, including stepped up foreign investment, is the continuing conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In 1992, Azerbaijan became member of the Economic Cooperation Organization. In 2002, the Azerbaijani merchant marine | 136 | 678 |
955 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | had 54 ships. In March 2001, Azerbaijan concluded a gas agreement with Turkey, providing a future export market for Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has concluded 21 production-sharing agreements with various oil companies. An export pipeline that transports Caspian oil to the Mediterranean from Baku through Tbilisi, Georgia to Ceyhan, Turkey (the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline) became operational in 2006. The pipeline is expected to generate as much as $160 billion in revenues for the country over the next 30 years. The recent high price of oil is highly beneficial to Azerbaijan's economy as the nation is in the midst of an oil boom. Eastern | 141 | 638 |
956 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | Caspian producers in Kazakhstan also have expressed interest in accessing this pipeline to transport a portion of their production. In 2010, Azerbaijan entered into the top eight biggest oil suppliers to EU countries with €9.46 billion. In 2011, the amount of foreign investments in Azerbaijan was $20 billion, a 61% increase from 2010. According to Minister of Economic Development of Azerbaijan, Shahin Mustafayev, in 2011, "$15.7 billion was invested in the non-oil sector, while the rest - in the oil sector." In 2012, because of its economic performance after the Soviet breakup, Azerbaijan was predicted to become "Tiger of Caucasus". | 149 | 640 |
957 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | In 2012, Globalization and World Cities Research Network study ranked Baku as a Gamma-level global city. In 2015, Turkey and Azerbaijan agreed to boost mutual trade to USD$15 billion by 2023. The following is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Azerbaijan at market prices with figures in USD. For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US dollar was exchanged at 1,565.88 Manats only. Currently, the new Manat is in use, with an exchange rate of about 1 manat = $1.10. Mean graduate pay was $5.76 per manhour in 2010. The following table shows the main economic indicators in | 145 | 588 |
958 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | 1980–2017. Source: IMF For more than a century the backbone of the Azerbaijani economy has been petroleum, which represented 50 percent of Azerbaijan’s GDP in 2005, and is projected to double to almost 125 percent of GDP in 2007. Now that Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviets because of poor technology, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important areas in the world for oil exploration and development. Proven oil reserves in the Caspian Basin, which Azerbaijan shares with Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, and Turkmenistan, are comparable in size to the North Sea, although | 138 | 621 |
959 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | exploration is still in the early stages. Azerbaijan has the largest agricultural basin in the region. About 54,9 percent of Azerbaijan is agricultural lands. At the beginning of 2007 there were 4,755,100 hectares of utilized agricultural area. In the same year the total wood resources counted 136 million m³. Azerbaijan's agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, leaf vegetables, viticulture and wine-making, cotton growing and medicinal plants. In some lands it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton and tobacco. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm | 145 | 684 |
960 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | products. The Caspian fishing industry is concentrated on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. Some portions of most products that were previously imported from abroad have begun to be produced locally (among them are Coca Cola by Coca Cola Bottlers LTD, beer by Baki-Kastel, parquet by Nehir and oil pipes by EUPEC Pipe Coating Azerbaijan). New program which is prepared by the Europe Union is aimed to support economic diversification of Azerbaijan.Program is considered for southern region Lankaran which has the lowest economic indicator and the lowest income per capita, as well as, the lowest level of investment, but | 134 | 631 |
961 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | at the same time, high potential for the production of garden products in high quality.The program will be focused on the development of the region at the local and international levels. In 2007, mining and hydrocarbon industries accounted for well over 95 per cent of the Azerbaijani economy. Diversification of the economy into manufacturing industries remain a long-term issue. As of late 2000s, the defense industry of Azerbaijan has emerged as an autonomous entity with a growing defense production capability. The ministry is cooperating with the defense sectors of Ukraine, Belarus and Pakistan. Along with other contracts, Azerbaijani defence industries | 130 | 661 |
962 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | and Turkish companies, Azerbaijan will produce 40mm revolver grenade launchers, 107mm and 122mm MLRS systems, Cobra 4×4 vehicles and joint modernization of BTR vehicles in Baku. The GDP growth rates observed in Azerbaijan during last years made the country one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But the banking sector of Azerbaijan has yet to tap the vast growth potential that should be achievable due to the continuation of the high economic growth. For this reason the banking sector remains small in relation to the size of the Azerbaijani economy. Since 2002, important stages of restructuring of the | 131 | 618 |
963 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | banking system have started to be carried out. Taking into consideration entry of big oil revenues in the country, as a logical result of successful oil strategy, and in this base, as the banks were ready to an effective transfer of their financial resources to the strategic goals, development strategy was made for 2002–2005. By 1 April 2010, 47 banks, 631 bank branches function in Azerbaijan. One of banks was founded with participation of state capital, 23 of foreign capital. To the same date, 98 non-bank credit organizations operate in the republic along with banks. Growth of real money incomes | 133 | 603 |
964 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | of population, development of trust in bank system, improving the legal bases of protection of interests of creditors and depositors, in particular launch of ‘Deposits Insurance Fund’ were the criteria characterizing rapid growth of deposits of population. As of 1 April 2010, bank deposits of population were equal to 2,4 billion AZN. 33,3% of them were long-term deposits (higher than a year). As of 1 April 2010, bank credits to customers is 8.5 bn AZN, which makes 70.5% of bank assets. Special weight of private sector in structure of credit investments is higher than 82% (7 bn AZN). In the | 150 | 596 |
965 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | 21st century, a new oil and gas boom helped to improve the situation in the Azerbaijan's science and technology sectors, and the government launched a campaign aimed at modernization and innovation. The government estimates that profits from the information technology and communication industry will grow and become comparable with those from oil production. Azerbaijan has a large and steadily growing Internet sector, mostly uninfluenced by the global financial crisis; rapid growth is forecast for at least five more years. The country has also been making progress in developing its telecoms sector. The Ministry of Communications & Information Technologies (MCIT), as | 122 | 673 |
966 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | well as being an operator through its role in Aztelekom, is both a policy-maker and regulator. Public pay phones are available for local calls and require the purchase of a token from the telephone exchange or some shops and kiosks. Tokens allow a call of indefinite duration. As of 2009, there were 1,397,000 main telephone lines and 1,485,000 internet users. There are five GSM providers: Azercell, Bakcell, Azerfon (Nar Mobile), Aztrank, Catel mobile network operators and one CDMA. Tourism is an important part of the economy of Azerbaijan. The country was a well-known tourist spot in the 1980s. However, the | 152 | 613 |
967 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | fall of the Soviet Union, and the Nagorno-Karabakh War during the 1988-1994 period, damaged the tourist industry and the image of Azerbaijan as a tourist destination. It was not until the 2000s that the tourism industry began to recover, and the country has since experienced a high rate of growth in the number of tourist visits and overnight stays. In the recent years, Azerbaijan has also becoming a popular destination for religious, spa, and health care tourism. During winter, the Shahdag Winter Complex offers skiing. The government of Azerbaijan has set the development of Azerbaijan as an elite tourist destination | 130 | 623 |
968 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | a top priority. It is a national strategy to make tourism a major, if not the single largest, contributor to the Azerbaijani economy. These activities are regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani manat is the currency of Azerbaijani, denominated as the manat, subdivided into 100 qapik. The manat is issued by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, the monetary authority of Azerbaijan. The ISO 4217 abbreviation is AZN. The Latinised symbol is (). The manat is held in a floating exchange-rate system managed primarily against the US dollar. The rate of exchange (Azerbaijani manat per | 142 | 618 |
969 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | US$1) for 28 January 2016, was AZN 1.60. There is a complex relationship between Azerbaijan's balance of trade, inflation, measured by the consumer price index and the value of its currency. Despite allowing the value of the manat to "float", Azerbaijan's central bank has decisive ability to control its value with relationship to other currencies. Two thirds of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas. The region of the Lesser Caucasus accounts for most of the country's gold, silver, iron, copper, titanium, chromium, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, complex ore and antimony. In September 1994, a 30-year contract was signed between | 150 | 637 |
970 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and 13 oil companies, among them Amoco, BP, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and Statoil. As Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development. Meanwhile, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established as an extra-budgetary fund to ensure the macroeconomic stability, transparency in the management of oil revenue, and the safeguarding of resources for future generations. Azeriqaz, a sub-company of SOCAR, intends to ensure full gasification of the country by 2021. | 143 | 659 |
971 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | The convenient location of Azerbaijan on the crossroad of major international traffic arteries, such as the Silk Road and the South-North corridor, highlights the strategic importance of transportation sector for the country’s economy. The transport sector in the country includes roads, railways, aviation, and maritime transport. Azerbaijan is also an important economic hub in the transportation of raw materials. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) became operational in May 2006 and extends more than 1,774 kilometers through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The BTC is designed to transport up to 50 million tons of crude oil annually and carries oil | 134 | 677 |
972 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets. The South Caucasus Pipeline, also stretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, became operational at the end of 2006 and offers additional gas supplies to the European market from the Shah Deniz gas field. Shah Deniz is expected to produce up to 296 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Azerbaijan also plays a major role in the EU-sponsored Silk Road Project. In 2002, the Azerbaijani government established the Ministry of Transport with a broad range of policy and regulatory functions. In the same year, the country became a | 129 | 610 |
973 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | member of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The highest priority being; upgrading the transport network and transforming transportation services into one of the key comparative advantages of the country, as this would be highly conducive to the development of other sectors of the economy. In 2012, the construction of Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway expected to provide transportation between Asia and Europe through connecting the railways of China and Kazakhstan in the east with Turkey's Marmaray to the European railway system in the west. Broad gauge railways in 2010 stretched for and electrified railways numbered . By 2010, there were 35 airports | 132 | 654 |
974 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | and one heliport. Single window system shares needed information through a single gateway with all organizations serving in trade field, as well as abolishes useless processes and raises the effectiveness of cooperation among different parties. 73 economies implement single window system in the world. Azerbaijan started to implement this system in 2009. It implemented an E-Government portal as well. A single-window system was established by a decree of the Azerbaijani President issued in 2007, 30 April, in order to simplify export-import procedures, innovate customs services, and improve the trade environment. According to the decree, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economic | 133 | 684 |
975 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | Development, Ministry of Taxes, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, State Social Protection Fund, and State Statistics Committee should present a proposal on the organization of entrepreneurial activities by single registration body based on single window principle. The president appointed the State Customs Committee as the leading body of controlling goods and transportation passing through the borders of the country in 2008. A "single authority principle" requires customs officials to be more responsible in dealing with all types of border control operations for other authorities. The Netherlands and Sweden were the countries of which practice studied. A "single system" works | 119 | 691 |
976 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | on and then shares standardized information accumulated from traders to all entities taking part in international trade. The practice of US was explored in this phase. An "automated system" provides a single electronic statement to responsible agencies submitted by traders to be worked on and confirmed, and after that, these authorities send electronic confirmations and announcements. In this case, practice of Mauritius and Singapore was studied. The Customs Committee formed a commission to realize the new system. Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Taxes, Ministry of Transportation, Central Bank, State Road Police, State Committee | 125 | 694 |
977 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | for Standardization, Metrology and Patents, State Maritime Administration were selected as important agencies to implement single window system along with the State Customs Committee. The government supported Customs Committee in preparing its staff to deal with the new system by improving recruitment of local customs offices, providing with software and hardware upgrades for the system. Azerbaijani government supports financially single window system. In the first phase, the government realized customs clearance system on the process of border crossing to country beginning from January 1, 2009. This system was free to all users. Then it was expanded to Baku and Sumgayit | 126 | 679 |
978 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | in 2011. Customs code of the Republic of Azerbaijan was amended based on the inclusion of the article on single window system which became operative on January 1, 2012. After this amendment, all of Azerbaijan’s 29 customs checkpoints started to implement new single window system. According to the Presidential Decree (11 November 2008), “single window” principle started to be applied from 1 January 2009 on the inspection of goods and transportation at the border checkpoints. Customs Committee established a commission working on the implementation of “single window” principle in customs agencies on 18 November 2008 based on the Presidential Decree | 134 | 653 |
979 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | of 11 November 2008. Technological scheme determining the sequence of issuance of “permit” certificates was approved by the Customs Committee on 22 December 2009. Scheme provided customs officers to issue “permit” certificates at border checkpoints to vehicles, which perform customs, veterinary, photo-sanitary and sanitary quarantine control activities and international automobile transportation in accordance with legislation. The State Migration Service issues appropriate permits for foreigners and stateless persons coming to Azerbaijan to live and work on legal grounds, simplifying the procedure of their registration at the place of residence, and ensuring transparency in these processes. The “single window” principle has been | 131 | 738 |
980 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | applied on migration management processes starting from 1 July 2009 according to the Decree. As of October 2014, Azerbaijan holds the highest foreign investment per capita among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Germany, for example, has invested approximately $760 million into the Azerbaijani economy, and approximately 177 German companies operate within Azerbaijan. Since gaining its independence, companies have invested $174 billion into Azerbaijan. Foreign investment accounts for around half of that amount. In 2008, Azerbaijan was cited as the top reformer by the World Bank's Doing Business report: According to World Bank's Doing Business report 2019, Azerbaijan improved | 140 | 704 |
981 | "Economy of Azerbaijan" | its position in the Ease of doing business rank from 57 to 25, as well as ranked 4th among the top 10 improvers. Implementing a record number of reforms mainly involving institutional changes have made it easier to do business in Azerbaijan in 2017-2018 period, as a result time and cost to get construction permit reduced significantly (time by 80 days and cost by 12.563 AZN), process of connecting electricity grid rationalized, as well as getting credit simplified. 17% of GDP (2011 est.) 1.1% (2012 est.) -3% (2011 est.) Economy of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan has an economy that has completed its | 147 | 596 |
982 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | Geography of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan is situated in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan: the Caspian Sea, whose shoreline forms a natural boundary to the east; the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north; and the extensive flatlands at the country's center. About the size of Portugal or the state of Maine, Azerbaijan has a total land area of approximately 86,600 square kilometers, less than 0.5% of the land area of the former Soviet Union. Of the three Transcaucasian states, Azerbaijan has the greatest land area. Special administrative subdivisions are the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which is separated | 139 | 656 |
983 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | from the rest of Azerbaijan by a strip of Armenian territory, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, entirely within Azerbaijan. (The status of Nagorno-Karabakh was under negotiation in 1994.) Located in the region of the southern Caucasus Mountains, Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea to the east, Georgia and Russia to the north, Iran to the south, and Armenia to the southwest and west. A small part of Nakhchivan also borders Turkey to the northwest. The capital of Azerbaijan is the ancient city of Baku, which has the largest and best harbor on the Caspian Sea and has long been the center | 139 | 600 |
984 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | of the republic's oil industry. The elevation changes over a relatively short distance from lowlands to highlands; nearly half the country is considered mountainous. Notable physical features are the gently undulating hills of the subtropical southeastern coast, which are covered with tea plantations, orange groves, and lemon groves; numerous mud volcanoes and mineral springs in the ravines of Kobustan Mountain near Baku; and coastal terrain that lies as much as twenty-eight meters below sea level. Except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas bordering Georgia and Iran, Azerbaijan is ringed by mountains. To the northeast, bordering Russia's Dagestan Autonomous | 142 | 679 |
985 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | Republic, is the Greater Caucasus range; to the west, bordering Armenia, is the Lesser Caucasus range. To the extreme southeast, the Talysh Mountains form part of the border with Iran. The highest elevations occur in the Greater Caucasus, where Mount Bazar-dyuzi rises 4,466 meters above sea level. Eight large rivers flow down from the Caucasus ranges into the central Kura-Aras Lowlands, alluvial flatlands and low delta areas along the seacoast designated by the Azerbaijani name for the Mtkvari River (Kura) and its main tributary, the Aras. The Mtkvari, the longest river in the Caucasus region, forms the delta and drains | 158 | 627 |
986 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | into the Caspian a short distance downstream from the confluence with the Aras. The Mingechaur Reservoir, with an area of 605 square kilometers that makes it the largest body of water in Azerbaijan, was formed by damming the Kura in western Azerbaijan. The waters of the reservoir provide hydroelectric power and irrigation of the Kura-Aras plain. Most of the country's rivers are not navigable. About 15% of the land in Azerbaijan is arable. Azerbaijan is nearly surrounded by mountains. The Greater Caucasus range, with the country's highest elevations, lies in the north along the border with Russia and run southeast | 138 | 620 |
987 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | to the Abseron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea. The country's highest peak, Bazardyuze Dagi, rises to 4,485 m in this range near the Azerbaijan-Russia border. The Lesser Caucasus range, with elevations up to 3,500 m, lies to the west along the border with Armenia. The Talish Mountains form part of the border with Iran at the southeast tip of the country. Kobustan Mountain, located near Baku, is carved by deep ravines, from which bubble mud volcanoes and mineral springs. The climate varies from subtropical and humid in the southeast to subtropical and dry in central and eastern Azerbaijan. Along the | 146 | 602 |
988 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | shores of the Caspian Sea it is temperate, while the higher mountain elevations are generally cold. Baku, on the Caspian, enjoys mild weather that averages in January and in July. Physiographic conditions and different atmosphere circulations admit 8 types of air currents including continental, sea, arctic, tropical currents of air that formulates the climate of the Republic. The maximum annual precipitation falls in Lenkeran (1,600 to 1,800 mm.) and the minimum in Absheron (200 to 350 mm.). The maximum daily precipitation of 334 mm was observed at the Bilieser Station in 1955. Air and water pollution are widespread and pose | 149 | 632 |
989 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | great challenges to economic development. Major sources of pollution include oil refineries and chemical and metallurgical industries, which in the early 1990s continued to operate as inefficiently as they had in the Soviet era. Air quality is extremely poor in Baku, the center of oil refining. Some reports have described Baku's air as the most polluted in the former Soviet Union, and other industrial centers suffer similar problems. The Caspian Sea, including Baku Bay, has been polluted by oil leakages and the dumping of raw or inadequately treated sewage, reducing the yield of caviar and fish. In the Soviet period, | 135 | 624 |
990 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | Azerbaijan was pressed to use extremely heavy applications of pesticides to improve its output of scarce subtropical crops for the rest of the Soviet Union. The continued regular use of the pesticide DDT in the 1970s and 1980s was an egregious lapse, although that chemical was officially banned in the Soviet Union because of its toxicity to humans. Excessive application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers has caused extensive groundwater pollution and has been linked by Azerbaijani scientists to birth defects and illnesses. Rising water levels in the Caspian Sea, mainly caused by natural factors exacerbated by man-made structures, have reversed | 129 | 655 |
991 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | the decades-long drying trend and now threaten coastal areas; the average level rose 1.5 meters between 1978 and 1993. Because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, large numbers of trees were felled, roads were built through pristine areas, and large expanses of agricultural land were occupied by military forces. Like other former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan faces a gigantic environmental cleanup complicated by the economic uncertainties left in the wake of the Moscow-centered planning system. The Committee for the Protection of the Natural Environment is part of the Azerbaijani government, but in the early 1990s it was ineffective at targeting critical applications of | 137 | 675 |
992 | "Geography of Azerbaijan" | limited funds, establishing pollution standards, or monitoring compliance with environmental regulations. Early in 1994, plans called for Azerbaijan to participate in the international Caspian Sea Forum, sponsored by the European Union (EU). Geography of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan is situated in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan: the Caspian Sea, whose shoreline forms a natural boundary to the east; the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north; and the extensive flatlands at the country's center. About the size of Portugal or the state of Maine, Azerbaijan has a total land area of approximately 86,600 square kilometers, less than | 135 | 678 |
993 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | Foreign relations of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO's Partnership for Peace, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the World Health Organization, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the Council of Europe, CFE Treaty, the Community of Democracies; the International Monetary Fund; and the World Bank. The major trends in the foreign relations of Azerbaijan toward both global and regional powers active in Caucasus area. External variables are categoriazed depending on their original nature into two groups: global and regional. The former category includes global players | 130 | 705 |
994 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | such as Moscow and Washington, while the latter category rival regional players, namely Ankara and Tehran. Azerbaijan has formal involvement with senior ex-U.S. government officials including James Baker and Henry Kissinger, as they serve on the Honorary Council of Advisors of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC). USACC is co-chaired by Tim Cejka, President of Exxon Mobil Corporation and Reza Vaziri, President of R.V. Investment Group and Chairman of the Anglo Asian Mining Plc (LSE Ticker: AAZ). AsDB, BSEC, CE, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, | 189 | 639 |
995 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) Azerbaijan currently has diplomatic relations with 158 countries: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Libya, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands,Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Republic of India, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, | 222 | 793 |
996 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Azerbaijan is one of the few countries with predominantly Muslim populations that shares a strategic alliance with Israel. Today, Israel is a major arms supplier to the country. ("See Azerbaijan–Israel relations"). Azerbaijan also maintains good relations with the European Union, in the framework of its Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy ("See Azerbaijan and the European Union"). As of 2017, Azerbaijan maintains diplomatic relations with 178 states (including Palestine and the Vatican City) and the European Union. Azerbaijan has not yet established diplomatic relations with: The frozen conflict over currently largely Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh within the Republic of | 136 | 720 |
997 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | Azerbaijan began when in 1988 the Armenian majority of Nagorno-Karabakh demanded autonomy with demonstrations and persecutions against ethnic Azeris following in Armenia. This led to anti-Armenian rioting in Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijani militias beginning their effort to expel Armenians from the enclave. In 1992 a war broke out and pogroms of Armenians and Azeris forced both groups to flee their homes. In 1994, a Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the war but more than 1 million ethnic Armenians and Azeris are still not able to return home. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved despite negotiations, that are ongoing since 1992 under the aegis | 158 | 664 |
998 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | of the Minsk Group of the OSCE, to resolve the conflict peacefully. The European Stability Initiative (ESI) has revealed in a report from 2012 with the title "Caviar diplomacy: How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe", that since Azerbaijan's entry into the Council of Europe, each year 30 to 40 deputies are invited to Azerbaijan and generously paid with expensive gifts, including caviar (worth up to 1.400 euro), silk carpets, gold, silver and large amounts of money. In return they become lobbyists for Azerbaijan. This practice has been widely referred to as "Caviar diplomacy". ESI also published a report on | 141 | 620 |
999 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | 2013 Presidential elections in Azerbaijan titled "Disgraced: Azerbaijan and the end of election monitoring as we know it". The report revealed the ties between Azerbaijani government and the members of certain observation missions who praised the elections. Azerbaijan's "Caviar diplomacy" at 2013 presidential elections sparked a major international scandal, as the reports of two authoritative organizations Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe/European Parliament and OSCE/ODIHR completely contradicted one another in their assessments of elections. Non-governmental anti-corruption organization Transparency International has regularly judged Azerbaijan to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world and has also criticized Azerbaijan | 136 | 756 |
1000 | "Foreign relations of Azerbaijan" | for the "Caviar diplomacy". At June 2016 the public prosecutor of Milan has accused the former leader of the (Christian) Union of the Center and of the European People's Party of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Luca Volonte of accepting large bribes from representatives of the Azerbaijani government. Two people with high-level experience of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly (Pace) have told the Guardian they believe its members have been offered bribes for votes by Azerbaijan. Former Azerbaijani diplomat, Arif Mammadov, alleged that a member of Azerbaijan's delegation at the Council of Europe had €30m (£25m) | 140 | 648 |
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