What was Michelle Muscat blinded by or drawn to here? Not ethical behaviour for sure. Was it the smell of money?

”On paper, Azerbaijan is making strides towards accountability. The country has signed several international agreements relating to transparency and corruption.

Corruption prosecutions, however, have largely been confined to low-level officials, according to Global Integrity, a Washington-based research and advocacy group. Another anti-corruption group, Transparency International, ranked Azerbaijan 139th out the 176 countries on its 2012 Corruption Perception Index. Reporters Without Borders puts Azerbaijan 162nd out of 179 countries on its 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index.

The Aliyev family has held power in Azerbaijan for decades, long before the country was a country.

President Ilham’s father, Heydar Aliyev, was member of the NKVD, the Soviet secret service, in the 1940s, and in the 1960s became the head of the Azerbaijani KGB. In 1969, he became the leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, a position he held for almost 20 years, until he was forced to resign amidst corruption charges.

After the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, Aliyev regained power in the wake of a military coup, taking over presidential powers and then formally winning the presidency in a national election in October 1993. He remained president for a decade.

Just before his death in 2003, his son Ilham inherited the country’s leadership from him, winning the presidency in an election that many outside observers claimed was rigged in the son’s favor.”

https://www.icij.org/offshore/offshore-companies-provide-link-between-corporate-mogul-and-azerbaijans-president

http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Michelle-Muscat-with-Aliyev-daughter.jpg