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There is 11-year compulsory schooling in Azerbaijan,
which is divided into 4-year primary school and 7-year
secondary school.
Almost 100% of children attend primary school, 80% in
high school and 20% in higher education. The country has 48
higher education institutions, as well as a number of
private institutions. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Azerbaijan.
Due to a well-developed school system in the time of the
Soviet Republic, illiteracy in Azerbaijan is considered to
be below 3% (2000).
In April 2006, Aliyev visited Washington to discuss oil,
economic development and democracy. President Bush indicated
that the superpower was no longer interested in the 2005
assaults. The United States has significant interests in
Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources.
In May 2006, the new oil pipeline from Azerbaijan through
Georgia and Turkey was inaugurated to Europe. The pipeline
must transport DKK 50 million annually. tonnes of oil to the
European market from the Azerbadjan fields. At the end of
the year, a parallel gas pipeline was inaugurated, which
will carry up to DKK 296 billion annually. m 3
gas.
A June 2007 report by Amnesty International stated that
although the situation of internally displaced people in the
country had improved, they continued to face discrimination.
In April 2008, the President declared that "Nagorno
Karabakh will never gain its independence".
In October 2008, Aliyev was re-elected as President with
87% of the vote. The following year, a referendum on
constitutional amendments was conducted that removed the
restrictions on how many periods a president may sit, and at
the same time introduced instruments to limit freedom of
expression. The changes were adopted by about 90% of the
vote.
Following negotiations in Moscow in November 2009,
Armenia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Amnesty reported in 2010 that the human rights situation
remained extremely serious. Demonstrations are being
attacked by police, human rights activists and journalists
are being harassed and torture continues to be widespread.
In November 2010, parliamentary elections were held.
2,500 people reported their candidacy, but only 690 were
approved by the Election Commission. Aliyev's party got
45.8% of the vote and 72 out of the 125 seats in Parliament.
A further 38 “independent” candidates attached to the ruling
party were elected. The remaining 15 seats went to
representatives of some kind of opposition parties. For the
first time, the country's largest opposition party did not
get a single candidate elected. Election observers from the
OSCE characterized the election as characterized by
irregularities and with limited access for opposition
candidates to media and registration.
Inspired by the "Arab Spring", opposition groups launched
protests against the regime in late January 2011.
Demonstrations and actions continued throughout the spring
and early summer, but never reached more than a few hundred
participants. The regime met the demonstrations with
arrests. In a single demonstration on April 2, 200
demonstrators were arrested. In October, four of them were
sentenced to 18-36 months in prison for Ťorganizing mass
protestsť.
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