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In This Issue:
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Fact of the Week:
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, and is four times the size of all five of North America’s Great Lakes combined.
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President Aliyev Sworn in for Second Term
 With an overwhelming victory at the polls, President Ilham Aliyev was sworn into his second term in office on Oct. 24.
President Aliyev was sworn into office at a ceremony at the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku. As is customary in the ceremony, President Aliyev kissed the Azerbaijani flag and swore an oath to uphold the country's constitution.
During his speech, President Aliyev also vowed to never give up on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which remains under an illegal occupation by Armenian troops who violently expelled hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their homes in the 1990s.
"Azerbaijan will continue its negotiations only on the basis of territorial integrity and Nagorno-Karabakh will never gain independence," he said. "This will never be a subject for negotiations."
 The inauguration took place after Azerbaijan's Constitutional Court ratified the election figures from the Central Election Commission that confirmed him as winning 88.73 percent of the vote. As stipulated by Azerbaijan's constitution, the President must be inaugurated within three days of the Constitutional Court confirming the election results.
The Oct. 15 national election attracted wide turnout at the polls, with 76 percent of Azerbaijan's 4.8 million eligible voters casting ballots. More than 1,250 international observers monitored the vote alongside 30,000 local election monitors.
President Medvedev to Help Mediate
Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
 Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev has announced he hopes to mediate an end to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.
Armenian military aggression in the conflict violently expelled up to one million Azerbaijanis from their homes and has left up to 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory under an illegal occupation by Armenian troops.
“Both sides are ready to seek solutions,” President Medvedev said, adding that he hopes to meet together with President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart “in the very near future.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh region is located within Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders. While Armenian-backed separatists have declared self-rule through violent means, no country recognizes it as an independent state. A cease-fire was declared in 1994, although Armenian troops regularly engage in sniper fire against Azerbaijan’s military.
President Medvedev's announcement follows a recent U.S. State Department pledge to renew its efforts to help settle the conflict.
Azerbaijani Musicians Participate in Silk Road Ensemble in New York
 Azerbaijani musicians were among those performing in as part of an ensemble led by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
The music ensemble is part of the Silk Road Project, created by Ma, led by Ma, a United Nations Messenger of Peace, to promote cross-cultural exchanges and learning through the arts.
The ensemble performed in New York on Oct. 24 in celebration of United Nations Day. The group features internationally renowned musicians from Azerbaijan, Canada, China, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.
Among the 60 musicians from more than 20 countries that participate in the Silk Road Ensemble are Azerbaijani mugham singers Alim Gasimov and Fargana Qasimova, as well as Rauf Islamov playing the kamancheh, a stringed instrument, and Ali Asgar Mammadov playing the tar, believed to be the origin of the guitar.
The project takes its inspiration from the historic Silk Road trading route, using it as a modern metaphor for multicultural and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and President of the General Assembly Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann made opening remarks at the event.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Silk Road Project.
Azerbaijan May Acquire Insolvent Banks in Russia
 The chief executive of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) in Moscow said this week it would consider buying banks in Russia that become insolvent due to the financial crisis, the Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA) reported.
The IBA’s Moscow chairman of the board Fuad Abdullayev noted that while no concrete prospects yet exist “we are ready to consider any proposals on acquisition,” APA reported.
APA went on to report: Abdullayev said IBA-Moscow plans to expand its branch network in Moscow and Nizhni-Novgorod in Russia.
IBA-Moscow, a subsidiary of International Bank of Azerbaijan, has been in operation since 2002.
Its assets currently stand at approximately $370 million, with a credit portfolio of $222 million and capital of $74 million.
IBA-Moscow made a profit of $3.1 million in the first half of 2008, compared to almost $4.7 million in all of 2007.
The bank has branches in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The Government of Azerbaijan, through the Ministry of Finance, holds a 50.2 percent stake in the International Bank of Azerbaijan.
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