GDP growth forecast for Azerbaijan in 2023 announced Trend News Agency
Day: November 2, 2023
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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Vladimir Putin isn’t quite the man he used to be — more than a decade has passed since the Russian president engaged in public stunts to boast of his vigor by hugging a polar bear or riding a horse barechested in the mountains. The war in Ukraine has further dented that strongman image.
Putin is still expected to seek another term when Russia holds presidential elections next March. In fact, he has pushed through changes in the constitution to allow him to run for two more six-year terms.
But 71 is an age when death or serious illness are hardly distant concerns for the man who has ruled Russia for 24 years. If Putin was not on the ballot for some reason, it’s not clear who might take his place.
At the national level, Russia’s political system is hermetic. There are no primary elections where voters can choose a candidate; political parties select their own contenders and then present them to the electorate.
In Putin’s absence, the loyalist United Russia party could put forth a candidate, although there’s no fixed procedure for it to choose one. Officially, Putin ran in 2018 as an independent, a precedent adding uncertainty to how a replacement could emerge.
However it plays out, a candidate almost certainly would come from within the current power structure, as none of the lesser parties’ candidates would have wide recognition or support.
Some potential contenders if Putin isn’t in the election:
DMITRY MEDVEDEV
Medvedev has unique experience as a Putin surrogate, becoming president in 2008 when Putin could not seek reelection because of term limits. Despite the post, he was widely regarded as secondary to Putin, who became prime minister and effectively still led the country.
He submissively acceded to Putin’s desire to run for a new term in 2012, serving as prime minister until 2020. He was then appointed to the new position of deputy head of the national security council.
FILE – Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and the head of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev speaks to employees of the military-industrial corporation NPO Mashinostroyenia in Reutov, outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (Ekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP, File)
Although that post was low-visibility and often seen as a sinecure, Medvedev’s prominence soared last year when he abandoned his normally mild persona and became one of the most vehement defenders of the war in Ukraine, vividly denouncing the West.
That posture has appeal for Russian nationalists, but Medvedev could be tarnished by the perception he was too accommodating to the United States as president during the Obama administration’s “reset” initiative, as well as a high-profile expose alleging corruption and garishly lavish living.
ALEXEI DYUMIN
As governor of the Tula region, Dyumin does not have wide public visibility, but he has been tipped for years as possible Putin successor due to his close relationship with the president, including serving as his bodyguard.
Dyumin did come to public notice with his dramatic claim that he had once saved Putin from a bear. In Dyumin’s telling, he was at a mountain residence where Putin was sleeping when he was informed a bear was outside the door.
“The bear and I looked each other in the eyes. He backed off a little, I opened the door and discharged the entire clip of my pistol at his feet,” he said.
Dyumin was the leader of special forces of the military intelligence agency, in Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, giving him an aura of valor and success related to Ukraine, in contrast to the grim struggles and failures of the current war.
SERGEI SOBYANIN
If visuals matter in a Russian presidential race, Sobyanin could have the strongest portfolio of anyone. As mayor of Moscow since 2010, the Russian capital has undergone remarkable and visible changes.
FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin sit in a railway carriage exploring the Manezh Metro Station exhibition prior to the ceremony to launch passenger traffic on the Line D3 of Moscow Central Diameters via videoconference, at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
New recreation areas, pedestrian zones, sports facilities and other amenities have flourished. Electric buses replaced rattling old trolleys, new commuter rail lines reduced the city’s notorious traffic jams, and once-ragged parks were tidied up and enhanced.
Sobyanin offended Western-leaning liberals by banning LGBTQ+ parades in the city, but tolerance of gay rights is not a winning stance in Russia. Sobyanin also has avoided the flamboyance and divisiveness of his predecessor, Yuri Luzhkov.
MIKHAIL MISHUSTIN
Russia’s prime minister since 2020, Mishustin has provoked no excitement and relatively little notice, but he does have one significant potential advantage: if Putin were to die or become unable to fulfill his duties before the election, Mishustin would become acting president. That’s the same path Putin took when he became acting president upon Boris Yeltsin’s resignation on New Year’s Eve 1999, then capitalized on the position to win election the following year.
Mishustin doesn’t appear to have that ambition, however. He is a quiet technocrat, regarded as highly competent in his previous post as head of the national tax service. As prime minister, he has received approval ratings of up to 70% for supervising the administration and ministries.
Although many observers think he was blindsided by Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, he has continued his tasks stolidly.
NIKOLAI PATRUSHEV
The parallels between Putin and Patrushev are striking. They were born in Leningrad 10 months apart, and Patrushev became head of the Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, in 1999 when Putin became prime minister. Now head of the national security council, he echoes and sometimes amplifies Putin’s hawkish views and animosity toward the West.
Although Patrushev initially demurred on recognizing the independence of the rebel leadership in Ukraine’s separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which preceded the invasion by a few days, he later became a strong proponent of the war, arguing that Russia needed to wipe out what he called “neo-Nazis” on its doorstep and claiming that Ukraine and its Western orientation was a clear security threat.
He also denounced the alleged creep of Western neo-liberal ideas into Russia and defends preservation of the country’s traditions, a philosophical stance identical to Putin’s.
В Национальном университете обороны проводится тренинг с участием экспертов НАТО
В рамках Программы расширения военного образования (DEEP) НАТО в Институте военного управления Национального университета обороны Министерства обороны проводится тренинг «STANAG – 6001: составление тестов на чтение и аудирование» с участием специалистов Международного бюро языковой координации.
Накануне тренинга ректор Института военного управления, доктор национальных и военных наук, профессор полковник Бабир Гулиев встретился с гостями.
Было отмечено, что проведенные встречи и организованные курсы сыграли важную роль в совершенствовании области военного образования в Азербайджанской Армии.
Делегация предоставила информацию о проводимой в ходе тренинга деятельности по обучению современным методикам и средствам в области военного образования.
Отметим, что на тренинге с участием преподавательского состава Центра иностранного языка, экспертов по отечественному и зарубежному образованию стандартизируются тесты на аудирование (listening), чтение (reading) и умение писать (writing), анализируются образцы тестов, составленные тестовыми комиссиями, при участии военнослужащих, обучающихся в Центре иностранного языка, проверяются тесты на аудирование.
Основной целью тренинга является совершенствование знаний и умений преподавателей и педагогов-инструкторов, привлеченных к составлению и оценке тестов STANAG-6001 Центра иностранного языка.
В Национальном университете обороны проводится тренинг с участием экспертов НАТО
National Defense University hosts a training with the participation of NATO experts
As part of NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP), the training on “Development of STANAG-6001 reading and listening test” with the participation of specialists of Bureau for International Language Coordination (BILC) is being conducted at the Military Administration Institute of the National Defense University of the Ministry of Defense.
Prior to the training, the rector of the Military Administration Institute, Doctor of National Security and Military Sciences, Professor, Colonel Babir Guliyev met with the guests.
It was emphasized that the meetings and organized courses played an important role in improving the military educational sphere of the Azerbaijan Army.
The delegation provided information about activities to be carried out during the training on teaching modern methodology, methods and means of military education.
It should be noted that at the training conducted with the participation of the teaching staff of the Foreign Language Center and experts on domestic and foreign education, listening, reading and writing tests are standardized, test samples compiled by test commissions are analyzed and listening tests are checked with the participation of servicemen studying at the Foreign Language Center.
The main objective of the training is to improve the knowledge and skills of teachers and instructors involved in the Foreign Language Center’s activities on the development and evaluation of test questions of STANAG-6001.
National Defense University hosts a training with the participation of NATO experts
Milli Müdafiə Universitetində NATO ekspertlərinin iştirakı ilə treninq keçirilir
NATO-nun “Müdafiə təhsilinin genişlənməsi proqramı” (DEEP) çərçivəsində Müdafiə Nazirliyinin Milli Müdafiə Universitetinin Hərbi İdarəetmə İnstitutunda Beynəlxalq Dil Koordinasiya Bürosunun mütəxəssislərinin iştirakı ilə “STANAG – 6001 oxu və dinləmə test tapşırıqlarının tərtibatı” üzrə treninq keçirilir.
Treninqdən əvvəl Hərbi İdarəetmə İnstitutunun rektoru, milli təhlükəsizlik və hərbi elmlər doktoru, professor, polkovnik Bəbir Quliyev qonaqlarla görüşüb.
Keçirilən görüşlərin, təşkil olunan kursların Azərbaycan Ordusunun hərbi təhsil sahəsinin təkmilləşdirilməsində mühüm rola malik olduğu qeyd edilib.
Nümayəndə heyəti treninq müddətində müasir hərbi təhsil metodikası, üsul və vasitələrinin öyrədilməsi üzrə yerinə yetiriləcək fəaliyyətlər barədə məlumat verib.
Qeyd edək ki, Xarici dil mərkəzinin müəllim heyətinin, yerli və xarici təhsil üzrə ekspertlərin iştirakı ilə keçirilən treninqdə “dinləmə” (listening), “oxu” (reading) bacarığı testləri, eləcə də “yazı” (writing) bacarığı nümunələri standartlaşdırılır, test komissiyaları tərəfindən tərtib olunan test nümunələri təhlil edilir, Xarici dil mərkəzində təhsil alan hərbi qulluqçularla “dinləmə” (listening) bacarığı üzrə hazırlanan testlər sınaqdan keçirilir.
Treninqin əsas məqsədi Xarici dil mərkəzinin “STANAG – 6001 test suallarının tərtibatı və qiymətləndirilməsi” üzrə fəaliyyətlərə cəlb olunan müəllim və pedaqoq təlimatçılarının bilik və bacarıqlarının təkmilləşdirilməsidir.
Milli Müdafiə Universitetində NATO ekspertlərinin iştirakı ilə treninq keçirilir