An Inside View: The Azerbaijani Laundromat and Bribery in the Halls of Europe

When the Guardian exposed the US $2.9 billion Azerbaijani slush fund to bribe Western politicians, I had a feeling of relief and a sense of justice. Relief and justice, because Armenian activism and lobbying had been focusing its efforts on what is known in Western political circles as “Caviar Diplomacy” – Azerbaijan’s use of political bribery to gain influence. Periodic articles, news coverage, NGO reports, other sources and our own gut feelings supported these efforts, however, this latest revelation now being called the “Azerbaijani Laundromat” is the most compelling and powerful with regard to its geographic scope and the amount of money involved.

But as soon as my feelings of relief and justice subsided, anger and rage took over. It’s one thing to have a general feeling or suspicion about the situation, it’s something altogether different when you have hard core proof about politicians and diplomats succumbing to a dictator sitting in Baku. Those politicians under the influence of Baku have, with their proposals and adopted resolutions, reports and decisions, affected the lives of millions of Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan, many of whom have been silenced, imprisoned, beaten, deported – and killed. Those politicians who decided to accept money, with their stance and influence are just as responsible for the killings of Armenian civilians and soldiers in Armenia and in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) as Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is.

Of course, no one was surprised when the regime in Baku and its mouthpieces – mainly the English language Azerbaijani press – blamed the Armenian Diaspora, George Soros for these latest revelations. Less than a week after the Guardian story broke, the Azerbaijani regime set free prominent Azerbaijani journalist and media expert Mehman Aliyev, who had been arrested in August on trumped up charges, presumably to save face (dozens of other journalists and activists continue to be imprisoned). In a similar fashion, Russian – Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin was pardoned by the Azerbaijani president. Lapshin’s first blog post after being freed was a message to Armenians to ‘hold firm on Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), otherwise Azerbaijanis will slaughter you, just like Turks did 100 years ago.”

The revelations of the “Azerbaijani Laundromat” published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its investigative partners are extremely important and will be talked about for quite some time. It seems that every passing day, new scandals are being revealed and more politicians implicated. This latest report will be an integral addition to the body of investigative reporting out of Europe and the United States from previous years, mainly 2012-2016, with headlines such as “How Family that Runs Azerbaijan Built an Empire of Hidden Wealth” which presented documents that peel away three layers of secret ownership in a conglomerate and lead to gold mines and overseas real estate; “Council of Europe plagued by ‘caviar diplomacy’;” “Disgraced. Azerbaijan and the end of election monitoring as we know it;” “Caviar Diplomacy. How Azerbaijan Silenced the Council of Europe;” “Europe and Azerbaijan: The End of Shame;” “The European Swamp (Caviar Diplomacy Part 2) – Prosecutors, corruption and the Council of Europe;” “Caviar Diplomacy How Azerbaijan silenced the Council of Europe;” “Allegations of Dodgy Deals Rock Council of Europe” about Luca Volonte, an Italian member of the organization accused of receiving money from Azerbaijan to influence decisions; “Embarrassing Report Claims Azerbaijan ‘Considers Malta One of its Provinces” reporting that Malta was a ‘key location’ used by corrupt Azerbaijani officials to hide their money; “The Corleones of the Caspian: How Azerbaijan’s dictator woos the United States and Europe.”

Two reports by the European Stability Initiative on “Caviar Diplomacy” (2012, 2016) were followed by a March 2017 report by the Civic Solidarity Platform (a network of 80 Human Rights NGOs in Europe and Eurasia): “European Values Bought and Sold: An exploration into Azerbaijan’s sophisticated system of projecting its international influence, buying western politicians and capturing intergovernmental organizations.” The platform later called on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to launch an “external, independent, and impartial investigation into allegations of corruption and other violations of the Parliamentary Assembly Code of Conduct in connection with its work on Azerbaijan.”

There is sufficient and indisputable proof that most of the people mentioned in the articles and reports have a track record of whitewashing the face of an autocratic regime – that of the Aliyev family in Azerbaijan. Last, but not least, TEAS – the European Azerbaijani Society, founded by Tale Heydarov, the son of Kamaladdin Heydarov, the Minister of Emergency Situations in Azerbaijan, known as the unofficial lobbyist of Azerbaijan’s elites has its own share in this system of influencing decisions in Europe. Its activities appear in an article in The Economist’s 1843 Magazine, “Heaping on the Caviar Diplomacy” and looks at how the Azerbaijani regime diverts attention abroad from its human rights record and stifles dissent domestically. Mr. Didier Reynders, the Kingdom of Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs attended the opening of the new TEAS offices in Brussels. Incidentally, the director of TEAS Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) until two weeks ago was Marc Verwilghen, a former Belgian senator and minister. He became the first politician who lobbied for Azerbaijan to resign after the Laundromat revelations. Another Belgian politician, Alain Destexhe, known for his ties to the Azerbaijani regime and a lobbyist for them, who is a member of the Belgian delegation to PACE, has recently resigned. His name is in both reports, that of the Civic Solidarity and the OCCRP, where his so called organization of election monitoring has received money from Azerbaijan.

I suspect that many more politicians in many other European countries will follow Verwilghen and Destexhe – resignation and expulsion. I expect the same will happen in France, the United Kingdom and in Eastern European countries. In Germany already two politicians Lintner and Strenz have been implicated in the scandal…I am sure that my Armenian National Committee (Hay Tad) colleagues around the world will take this matter on. Azerbaijani arrogance and European acceptance can’t go on for long. It’s not unforeseeable that some European countries will look into the questionable dealings and accounts of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation too.

Having worked the last seven years in Brussels for the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD/Hay Tad Europe), I personally witnessed how many of these “politicians” supported Azerbaijan’s quest to elevate the country’s image – be it in the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly (PACE) in Strasbourg, or in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Another striking name in the Laundromat affair is Kalin Mitrev – a Bulgarian representative to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and husband of Bulgarian politician and Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova. Mitrev has received EUR 425,000 from Aliyev’s slush fund. Those of us working in Europe have said all along that Bokova is a shining example of Caviar Diplomacy – why would she stay silent in light of the destruction of the ancient Armenian cemetery in Nakhichevan’s Julfa by the Azerbaijani army? In the meantime, Mehriban Aliyeva, first Vice President and wife of President Ilham Aliyev is a UNESCO Goodwill ambassador, working closely with Bokova. Speaking of UNESCO, I assume, the Laundromat revelations will end the bid of (current Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia) Polad Bülbüloglu to become Secretary-General of UNESCO.