Latest news with #culturalprotest
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Azerbaijan cancels Russian events over the deaths of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg
Azerbaijan has canceled all cultural events planned by Russian state and private institutions in protest over the deaths of two Azerbaijanis after police raids in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Azerbaijani officials said Sunday. Azerbaijan's Culture Ministry wrote on X that concerts, exhibitions, festivals and performances were canceled on account of 'the demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg.' According to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, Russian law enforcement raided homes of Azerbaijani residents in the industrial city in Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday. Two Azerbaijanis were killed, it said, along with several others seriously injured and nine detained. The ministry on Saturday summoned the Russian Embassy's chargé d'affaires in Baku, Pyotr Volokovykh, demanding a full investigation and prosecution of those responsible. The victims were identified as Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, both around 60 years old. Their brother, Sayfaddin Huseynli, told Azerbaijani public broadcaster ITV that the men were tortured to death 'without any trial or investigation, despite their innocence.' He described the raids as 'savagery,' claiming that others were beaten and subjected to electric shocks. 'The so-called Russian law enforcement agencies broke into houses in the middle of the night, beat and took people away like animals,' Huseynli said. The Azerbaijani government also announced the cancelation of a planned visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk. 'The government of Azerbaijan does not consider it appropriate under the current circumstances for Overchuk or any other official representative of Russia to visit the country,' state media reported. In a statement, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said it expected 'that the matter will be investigated and all perpetrators of violence brought to justice as soon as possible.' Without commenting on the reported deaths, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday that the raids formed part of an investigation into previously committed crimes. Zakharova said raids and detentions targeted Russian citizens of Azerbaijani descent. Ties between the two countries have been strained for months. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declined an invitation to attend Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow in May. In contrast, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visited Baku later that month, signaling closer ties between Baku and Kyiv. Relations between Moscow and Baku cooled after an Azerbaijani airliner crashed in Kazakhstan in December, killing 38 of 67 people aboard. Aliyev said it was shot down over Russia, albeit unintentionally, and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. He accused Russia of trying to 'hush up' the incident for several days. Putin apologized to Aliyev for what he called a 'tragic incident' but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Azerbaijan cancels Russian events over the killings of 2 citizens in Yekaterinburg
Azerbaijan has canceled all cultural events planned by Russian state and private institutions in protest over the deaths of two Azerbaijani citizens during police raids in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Azerbaijani officials said Sunday. Azerbaijan's Culture Ministry wrote on X that concerts, exhibitions, festivals and performances were canceled on account of 'the demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg.'
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
How uproar over a Māori haka, beloved in New Zealand life, sowed chaos and gridlock in Parliament
The haka, a chanting dance of challenge, is sacred to New Zealand's Māori people but it's become a beloved cultural institution among New Zealanders of all races. Spine-tingling performances at sports events, funerals and graduations often go viral online, a non-partisan point of pride for the country abroad. But one haka performed in protest in New Zealand's Parliament by three legislators last November has provoked fierce division among lawmakers about whether it was an act of peaceful dissent, or disruptive and even intimidating to their opponents. A vote to approve unprecedented, lengthy bans from Parliament for the Māori party lawmakers who enacted the protest was unexpectedly suspended on Tuesday. Debate will resume in June, when it threatens to gridlock the legislative agenda until politicians from all parties reach consensus on what the punishment should be. Hundreds of protesters against the sanctions waited outside Parliament's front doors in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, on Tuesday to greet the Māori party lawmakers with a haka when they emerged. What is the haka? The haka was once viewed as a war dance, but that understanding has changed in New Zealand as it has been embraced in a range of celebratory, somber and ceremonial settings. It's an expression of Māori identity and while sacred, it can be performed by people of any race who are educated by Māori in the words, movements and cultural protocols. Emotional haka have generated news headlines in the past year when performed by soldiers farewelling a New Zealander who died fighting in Ukraine, and in Paris by athletes from New Zealand's Olympic team. While the best-known haka is 'ka mate,' the chant often performed by the All Blacks rugby team before games, there are many variants. Why was this one controversial? Last November's protest wasn't the first time a haka has rung out in Parliament. Performances regularly follow the passage of laws important to Māori. But some lawmakers decried this one for two reasons: because the legislators from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, left their seats and strode across the floor toward government politicians while performing it, and because it disrupted the vote on a proposed law. When asked how the Māori party would vote on a bill they said would dismantle Indigenous rights, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke – New Zealand's youngest parliamentarian, at 22 – tore up a copy of the law and began the haka, joined by two of her colleagues. The law, an attempt to rewrite New Zealand's founding treaty between Māori tribal leaders and the British crown, was widely unpopular and has since been defeated. But for six months, a committee of the lawmakers' peers have fought furiously about how — or whether — their protest of it should be punished. Why is debate about it still going? Usually there's agreement among parliamentarians about penalties for errant behavior. But this episode polarized the committee considering the lawmakers' actions. Its report recommended Maipi-Clarke, who the committee said showed contrition in a letter, be suspended for seven days and her colleagues for 21 days. That's the harshest penalty ever assigned to New Zealand lawmakers; the previous record was three days. Parliament Speaker Gerry Brownlee this month scheduled a rare, unlimited debate in Parliament until all parties could find consensus on the penalty, citing the severity of the proposed bans. But minutes after the debate began Tuesday, it was adjourned at the government's behest after they allowed the Māori party lawmakers to stay until after Thursday's budget was delivered. It permitted the government their budget week agenda and meant the Māori lawmakers — opponents of the government — wouldn't miss one of Parliament's most significant dates. But the debate about the bans will then resume. Opposition leader Chris Hipkins, the only opponent of the sanctions to speak before debate was suspended, cited episodes where lawmakers have brawled in Parliament and driven a tractor up the building's steps, but were not suspended, as evidence that the bans weren't fair. But Judith Collins, the chair of the committee that produced the sanctions, said the penalties were 'not about the haka.' Collins said the lawmakers' behavior was the most egregious she'd ever witnessed. What happens next? The debate will resume on June 5, when it threatens to stall usual government business once more. The government said Tuesday that it would not back down from the punishments suggested and opposition parties said they couldn't be swayed from disputing them. Outside Parliament, activist Eru Kapa-Kingi told the assembled crowd that the haka was 'a source of fear' in Parliament. 'Even though when the All Blacks do it it's a good thing,' he added.
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
How uproar over a Māori haka, beloved in New Zealand life, sowed chaos and gridlock in Parliament
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The haka, a chanting dance of challenge, is sacred to New Zealand's Māori people but it's become a beloved cultural institution among New Zealanders of all races. Spine-tingling performances at sports events, funerals and graduations often go viral online, a non-partisan point of pride for the country abroad. But one haka performed in protest in New Zealand's Parliament by three legislators last November has provoked fierce division among lawmakers about whether it was an act of peaceful dissent, or disruptive and even intimidating to their opponents. A vote to approve unprecedented, lengthy bans from Parliament for the Māori party lawmakers who enacted the protest was unexpectedly suspended on Tuesday. Debate will resume in June, when it threatens to gridlock the legislative agenda until politicians from all parties reach consensus on what the punishment should be. Hundreds of protesters against the sanctions waited outside Parliament's front doors in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, on Tuesday to greet the Māori party lawmakers with a haka when they emerged. What is the haka? The haka was once viewed as a war dance, but that understanding has changed in New Zealand as it has been embraced in a range of celebratory, somber and ceremonial settings. It's an expression of Māori identity and while sacred, it can be performed by people of any race who are educated by Māori in the words, movements and cultural protocols. Emotional haka have generated news headlines in the past year when performed by soldiers farewelling a New Zealander who died fighting in Ukraine, and in Paris by athletes from New Zealand's Olympic team. While the best-known haka is 'ka mate,' the chant often performed by the All Blacks rugby team before games, there are many variants. Why was this one controversial? Last November's protest wasn't the first time a haka has rung out in Parliament. Performances regularly follow the passage of laws important to Māori. But some lawmakers decried this one for two reasons: because the legislators from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, left their seats and strode across the floor toward government politicians while performing it, and because it disrupted the vote on a proposed law. When asked how the Māori party would vote on a bill they said would dismantle Indigenous rights, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke – New Zealand's youngest parliamentarian, at 22 – tore up a copy of the law and began the haka, joined by two of her colleagues. The law, an attempt to rewrite New Zealand's founding treaty between Māori tribal leaders and the British crown, was widely unpopular and has since been defeated. But for six months, a committee of the lawmakers' peers have fought furiously about how — or whether — their protest of it should be punished. Why is debate about it still going? Usually there's agreement among parliamentarians about penalties for errant behavior. But this episode polarized the committee considering the lawmakers' actions. Its report recommended Maipi-Clarke, who the committee said showed contrition in a letter, be suspended for seven days and her colleagues for 21 days. That's the harshest penalty ever assigned to New Zealand lawmakers; the previous record was three days. Parliament Speaker Gerry Brownlee this month scheduled a rare, unlimited debate in Parliament until all parties could find consensus on the penalty, citing the severity of the proposed bans. But minutes after the debate began Tuesday, it was adjourned at the government's behest after they allowed the Māori party lawmakers to stay until after Thursday's budget was delivered. It permitted the government their budget week agenda and meant the Māori lawmakers — opponents of the government — wouldn't miss one of Parliament's most significant dates. But the debate about the bans will then resume. Opposition leader Chris Hipkins, the only opponent of the sanctions to speak before debate was suspended, cited episodes where lawmakers have brawled in Parliament and driven a tractor up the building's steps, but were not suspended, as evidence that the bans weren't fair. But Judith Collins, the chair of the committee that produced the sanctions, said the penalties were 'not about the haka.' Collins said the lawmakers' behavior was the most egregious she'd ever witnessed. What happens next? The debate will resume on June 5, when it threatens to stall usual government business once more. The government said Tuesday that it would not back down from the punishments suggested and opposition parties said they couldn't be swayed from disputing them. Outside Parliament, activist Eru Kapa-Kingi told the assembled crowd that the haka was 'a source of fear' in Parliament. 'Even though when the All Blacks do it it's a good thing,' he added.
