Azerbaijan

David086

Seeing that Azerbaijan has won the eurovision, what is the country like?

Has anyone ever been?

Teclo

Marty will be the first Irishman there.

MagicMarker

David086 wrote: »

Has anyone ever been?

More than likely.

booboo88

azerbajan has won eurovision????
wooohoooo i won 50euro

The_Kew_Tour

If all their women are that Hot I am on me way

Saila

probably borat

David086

MagicMarker wrote: »

More than likely.

Lol I was waiting for a comment like that.

theboss80

Conspiracy Theories is thata way

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FloatingVoter

David086 wrote: »

Seeing that Azerbaijan has won the eurovision, what is the country like?

Has anyone ever been?

The Russians and the Germans did quite a lot of tourism there in World War II. Its got oil, a very handy port and is smack bang between Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The up and coming would-be world ruler is advised to visit. (thanks to a quick Google),:D

Saila

theboss80 wrote: »

Conspiracy Theories is thata way

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and soccer is <

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way

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

TheZohanS

It's not a patch on Molvania, that's for sure.

tweedledee

Beautiful song,a worthy winner,and yes I would recommend a visit.Its a lovely country,very rustic but generally safe and clean.Ohh the night life is AMAZING and the women are gorgeous,check it out before its wrecked by the package holiday crowd.....;)

reverenddave

i prefered Kreplachistan

Tar.Aldarion

I read about their country in the famous five, all I know about them

vampire of kilmainham

good song i liked it and those wimmens are hot stuff sh1t im going for a peddle

Joey the lips

Peirce brosnan was there in the world is not enough...

For Forks Sake

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I read about their country in the famous five, all I know about them

Is ginger beer their main export?

true

I could not put it on a map. somewhere between the old"west Europe" and Russia. must look it up sometime.

mike65

"Baku!"

sollar

They will need to change their name to something easier.

JohnMearsheimer

I'm off for a piss up with Vancouver's Azerbaijani community

unclebill98

I think Harry Potters been there before! I don't think he met the nice people.

Solnskaya

never mind the song, did you see them legs??? Oh lordy, the legs on em.

Teclo

Maybe they will have another war with Georgia while its on, add a bit more interest.

Tar.Aldarion

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Is ginger beer their main export?

I dunno must check their larder, get out of the way timmy!

Coriolanus

Didn't even know they were in it. Who decides the countries that get in anyway? I mean Israel, but not Syria, Azerbaijan,,,

Captain_Generic

They've got a place called "State Science Academy Gandja Branch" in the city Ganja

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.680207,46.362981&spn=0.00528,0.013078&z=17

Jimmyboss

Isn't Tony Adams the manager of their national team, we can all stay at his gaff, he useta be very fond of the oul black stuff.....

Zamboni

mike65 wrote: »

"Baku!"

Bless you.

PK2008

The prison in Harry Potter?

losthorizon

I was in Armenia on my holidays and passed through territory under the sights of Azeri guns. I could have got a tour to Ngorno-karabakh (taken from Azerbaijan) but I didnt have the time. Armenia was great. I met an English guy there who said that he didnt like Azerbiajan and it was great relief to get into Armenia. I met Loads of Iranians, Lebanese and Americans on holidays in Armenia. The Armenians have great time for the Russians and hate the Turks and there is always the thread of war with Azerbaijan. Having met some very friendly christian Iranians (and they are allowed to drink at home) its a country I would love to visit as well.

tweedledee

The hottest women on the planet there,and 20 yoyos will do ya for the nite.
Marty wasnt the first Irishman there.I was!!!!!!
Brosnans Bond was filmed in Turkey

PK2008

losthorizon wrote: »

I was in Armenia on my holidays and passed through territory under the sights of Azeri guns. I could have got a tour to Ngorno-karabakh (taken from Azerbaijan) but I didnt have the time. Armenia was great. I met an English guy there who said that he didnt like Azerbiajan and it was great relief to get into Armenia. I met Loads of Iranians, Lebanese and Americans on holidays in Armenia. The Armenians have great time for the Russians and hate the Turks and there is always the thread of war with Azerbaijan. Having met some very friendly christian Iranians (and they are allowed to drink at home) its a country I would love to visit as well.

Pfff....nobody cares about Armenia, its all about Azerbaijan

tweedledee

Ireland is old news,Eastern Europe is where the partys at

Oranage2

I've look for this Azerbajan on a european map - I can confirm that this country does not exists!

charlemont

tweedledee wrote: »

The hottest women on the planet there,and 20 yoyos will do ya for the nite.
Marty wasnt the first Irishman there.I was!!!!!!
Brosnans Bond was filmed in Turkey

sounds good

Rented Mule

Solnskaya wrote: »

Oh lordy, the legs on em.

Hard Rock Hallelujah ?

strokemyclover

vampire of kilmainham wrote: »

good song i liked it and those wimmens are hot stuff sh1t im going for a peddle

Bad image of Christopher Lee tugging away at his stomach handle like a man possessed

theboss80

Saila wrote: »

and soccer is <

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way

:pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

theboss80

Think theres an airport there that Ryanair fly to if you want to go to Turkey

Rented Mule

Oranage2 wrote: »

I've look for this Azerbajan on a european map - I can confirm that this country does not exists!

It's along side of Armenia and Georgia.


Something tells me that this may confuse you even more. :P

Ponster

Nevore wrote: »

Didn't even know they were in it. Who decides the countries that get in anyway?

Ah, I have an easy answer to this one. Wiki says that any country that is part of the European Broadcasting Union (205 countries worldwide) and is also within the European Broadcasting Area.

The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1, on the east by the meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by the parallel 30° North so as to include the western part of the USSR, the northern part of Saudi Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, Iraq, Jordan and that part of the territory of Turkey lying outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area.

easy eh? !

Scarinae

They take Eurovision voting very seriously (or they did two years ago, anyway)

It's a simple song competition. Or is it?

The Eurovision Song Contest has long promoted itself as an event where national audiences in Europe and beyond can put politics aside and enjoy a long night of entertainment performed in the spirit of friendly competition, if not necessarily musical mastery.

But as Eurovision's reach has traveled further east, old political rivalries are muddying the contest's claim on good clean fun.

Rovshan Nasirli, a young Eurovision fan living in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, says he was summoned this week to the country's National Security Ministry -- to explain why he had voted for Armenia during this year's competition in May.

"They wanted an explanation for why I voted for Armenia. They said it was a matter of national security,” Nasirli said. “They were trying to put psychological pressure on me, saying things like, 'You have no sense of ethnic pride. How come you voted for Armenia?' They made me write out an explanation, and then they let me go."

A total of 43 Azeris voted for the Armenian duo Inga and Anush, and their song, "Jan-Jan."

Nasirli, like others, used his mobile phone to send a text message expressing his preference, little imagining his vote would eventually result in a summons from national security officials. (By contrast, 1,065 Armenians voted for the Azerbaijani team, apparently without consequence.)

Azerbaijan and Armenia remain locked in a protracted dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic-Armenian enclave located within Azerbaijani territory. Relations between the two countries are poor, even as they appear to be nearing a breakthrough on Karabakh.

The official antipathy can frequently trickle down to personal bias among ordinary Armenians and Azeris. But not always.

In the case of Eurovision, Nasirli said he preferred the Armenian entry because it sounded "more Azeri" than his country's own submission, a duet featuring Arash, a pop superstar born in Iran and based in Sweden:

"I voted for Armenia to protest the fact that Arash was representing Azerbaijan. Also, the Armenian song was closer to Azerbaijani style than Arash's song,” Nasirli said.

Some Azeris cried foul when Arash was chosen to partner with a relatively young and unknown Azerbaijani singer, AySel, for the country's Eurovision entry with the song "Always."

But others saw the decision as a shrewd move that would lend star power and an international name to the Azerbaijani submission.

In the end, the gamble appeared to pay off. Azerbaijan came in third place, its highest Eurovision showing ever. Armenia's Inga and Anush came in tenth.

Many Azerbaijanis celebrated the results as a victory over Yerevan. The third-place finish, however, was apparently not enough to satisfy Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry, which summoned Nasirli to its Nasimi district office on August 12.

Nasirli, who was contacted by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service after posting a comment about his experience on the station's website, said he saw nothing wrong in his vote for Armenia.

"If Azerbaijani parliament members can go to Armenia, then what's wrong with voting for the Armenian song in the contest?” he asked. “I told them, 'If you don't want people to vote for Armenia, then why are you in the same contest with them?'"

Ministry officials were not available for comment on Nasirli's experience. But the case has set off alarm bells in Azerbaijan's rights community.

Activist Avaz Hasanov called the move "unbelievable" and warned that Azerbaijan, which has already seen a steady clampdown on civil rights under President Ilham Aliyev, was moving toward a police state.

"There are no state secrets involved here. It was an open contest. It's just people expressing their personal taste,” Hasanov said. “It's unbelievable that they are trying to keep that kind of control over people. Limiting people's choices in such an obvious manner won't do any good for the country. If all SMS and phone conversations are being screened, then this country is nothing more than a police state, with people being watched all the time."

Some see the ministry's scrutiny of the Eurovision vote as a bizarre extension of the government's preoccupation with gaining the upper hand in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Baku argues that the enclave represents a violation of its territorial integrity and that the region must eventually come under Azerbaijani control.

Shades of the 21-year-old dispute could be detected in the Eurovision contest itself. The Armenian team sparked a storm of controversy when the original video backdrop for their performance featured an image of a memorial in Nagorno-Karabakh that is deeply meaningful for Karabakh Armenians.

Russia, the 2009 Eurovision host, requested the offending image be removed. But Armenia stoked the dispute further when its 2008 contestant, Sirusho, appeared during this year's contest holding a photograph of the same monument.

Elmir Mirzoyev, a commentator on Azeri cultural issues, says some issues related to Nagorno-Karabakh undoubtedly fall within the purview of the National Security Ministry. Stoking ethnic hostilities, however, should not be one of them, he said.

"I have to know what the ultimate goal for our state is -- to restore territorial integrity, or to refuse to accept Armenians as an ethnicity? Security services are serious organizations. What is their function? To spread ethnic hatred against Armenians, or to restore our territory?” he asked.

Mirzoyev continued: “Our government has never declared that Armenians can't live in our country, or that those voting for Armenia should be summoned to the National Security Ministry."

Catari Jaguar

hahah! Love it! Fookin azerbaijan. wtf.

D1stant

sollar wrote: »

They will need to change their name to something easier.

I'm with ya. How about 'Puke'?

D1stant

losthorizon wrote: »

and there is always the thread of war with Azerbaijan./QUOTE]

There is ya. Welcome

Glenster

I'm going to join in


"they probably all have donkeys and have sex with them or something and they worship the wrong god"


Was that any good?

darsar

I think I'm the first in this thread to say I have been to Azerbaijan!

The view from my hotel window was a clothes line with a cow and a pig hanging from it with flies swarming. The local butcher!

Guy that was with me was arrested for taking a photograph of a building he didn't realise was a government building! Mad place

For Forks Sake

darsar wrote: »

The view from my hotel window was a clothes line with a cow and a pig hanging from it with flies swarming. The local butcher!

Would you ever feck off, that was Longford

wes

According to my Mother one of my Aunties is from there.