
Some state workers, fearing reprisals said that while the extra work isn't compulsory, they have been told they will lose their jobs if they don't take part.
A journalist for the opposition "Yeni Musavat" newspaper based in Naxcivan said, "It is obligatory for teachers and for anybody that works with state-budget organs to work in the fields," Mehdiyev says. "Every teacher has to produce 80 kilograms of wheat, which costs $200 [to produce]. But the monthly salary is $60. But if you don't do it, you're fired."
Critics of the authorities' scheme say that local farms are taking advantage of the dire situation in the autonomous republic and gaining free labor. Unemployment is very high in the region. Many people from Naxcivan have gone to work in Turkey.
Full article: Azerbaijan: Teachers, Doctors In Naxcivan Tend The Fields To Keep Their Jobs (RFE/RL's Luke Allnutt contributed to this report)