Azerbaijan

A group of hackers calling themselves Cyberwarriors for Freedom attacked the official websites of the Eurovision song contest on Thursday, demanding that the host nation, Azerbaijan, cancel next week's competition.

Azerbaijan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet republic, won the right to host the contest by winning last year's event in Germany, and sees the competition as a chance to showcase the country. The grand final is scheduled for May 26.

Hackers calling themselves the “Iranian Cyber Army” and “Cocaine Warriors from Persia” have hit the websites of Azerbaijan’s national airline AZAL and television station AzTV, the second such attack on Azeri state portals, officials said Thursday.

Last month, “Azerian Cyber Army” hackers hit about 20 Azeri state bodies’ websites, posting images of the devil over photos of the Azeri and Israeli presidents, and messages saying “Servants of Jews” and “Enemies of Islam.”