European Azerbaijan Society
The European Azerbaijan Society (Teas) calls itself an 'independent' advocacy group and body. It regularly regularly takes British and European MPs, MEPs and government officials on trips to the former Soviet state.
Chaired by Tale Heydarov, the society has been accused of being 'a mouthpiece for the country's elite families who own much of its oil and mining interests'. [1]
Azerbaijan is regularly judged to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.
Contents
People
- Tale Heydarov, the London-based son of Kamaladdin Heydarov, the minister for emergency situations, who is one of President Ilham Aliyev's inner circle and is often described as the most powerful man in Azerbaijan.[1]
- Mark Field, MP was at one point being paid £6000 a month by Teas for his advice [1]
Lobbying and influencing politicians
Teas provides secretarial support to the Azerbaijan All-Party Parliamentary Group and cultivates relationships with politicians from all sides, 'throwing glitzy receptions for MPs at their parties' annual conferences'.[1] Lord Laird is a member of this group. [2]
APPG members
- Chair, Chris Pincher
- Vice-chair,Mike Gapes Lord Addington Lord German Baroness O’Cathain
- Treasurer, Lord Kilclooney
- Secretary, Bob Blackman
The list of registered interests shows that the society has given at least £71,740 to Tory MPs to cover trips to Azerbaijan.[1]
British MP trips
In May 2011 a delegation of parliamentarians, including MPs Bob Blackman, Stephen Hammond, Gerry Sutcliffe (Lab), Mark Field and his assistant, Julia Dockerill, as well as peers Lord Kilclooney and Lord Rogan, went on a five-day visit to Azerbaijan, paid for by the society.[1]
In the same year, trips by Baroness Eccles, and Viscount Eccles, members of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace), the body responsible for monitoring Azerbaijan elections, were funded by the society.[1]
European MEP trips
In March 2014, the European Parliament’s ethics committee found that a number of parliamentarians (MEPs) had accepted—and failed to properly disclose—trips to Azerbaijan that were reportedly funded by the Azerbaijani government or groups who refuse to disclose their funding. Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Jamie Doward and Charlotte Latimer, Plush hotels and caviar diplomacy: how Azerbaijan's elite wooed MPs, The Observer, 24 November 2013
- ↑ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmallparty/register/azerbaijan.htm Register Of All-Party Groups [as at 18 August 2014] Azerbaijan], www.parliament.co.uk, accessed 18 September 2014
