Azerbaijan - Articoli

What's behind Azerbaijan’s snap elections

15/02/2018 -  Arzu GeybullayevaTamara Grigoryeva

The presidential elections were scheduled for next October, but surprisingly the head of state has called them on April 11. Why did president Aliyev take and sign this decision?


Muižnieks asks for details on the LGBT situation in Azerbaijan

17/10/2017 -  Nils Muižnieks

LGBT community members in Azerbaijan have been subjected to arbitrary arrests in the last weeks. The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muižnieks, has addressed the matter


Azerbaijan: LGBT persecution on the rise

03/10/2017 -  Durna Safarova

They stopped them in the streets, at their workplace, in their apartments. Tens of members of the LGBT community were arrested in Azerbaijan. Their fault? The regime does not tolerate diversity


Azerbaijan: Confronting Mental Illness

25/09/2017 -  Nurlan Baba-zade

An encounter with an 34-year-old Azeri man with a mental disorder. His experience, his daily life and the difficulties met by people who, in the Caucasian country, suffer from mental illness


Azerbaijan: the silent crackdown in the Land of Fire

06/09/2017 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The already long list of arrests of those who are not aligned with the Baku government continues. The last one to pay was Mehan Aliyev, director of the Turan press agency


Azerbaijan and Europe

07/07/2017 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The Azerbaijani regime should harbor no illusions. It will never achieve a strategic partnership agreement with the EU like those obtained by the US, Canada, China, Japan, Brazil and others


Azerbaijan: a 21st century dynasty

01/03/2017 -  Arzu Geybullaeva

President Ilham Aliyev has recently appointed his wife to the position of vice-president of the country, confirming that Azerbaijan is, slowly but steadily, turning from a democracy into a monarchy


Azerbaijan: autocracy, before and after the referendum

29/09/2016 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The referendum held on September 26 in Azerbaijan confirmed the adoption of 29 constitutional amendments, strengthening the power of the ruling elite


Azerbaijan: Aliyev-style referendum

31/08/2016 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Attempts to strengthen the regime in Azerbaijan: a forthcoming referendum aims to prolong the presidential term and to lower to 18 years the minimum age to be elected President


The South Caucasus at Rio Olympic Games

02/08/2016 -  Natalia Kawana

Things seem to be going well for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia at the 2016 Summer Olympics – scheduled to start on 5 August, in Rio de Janeiro. At least when it comes to the overall numbers of participating athletes


Opera in Azerbaijan

29/07/2016 -  Natalia Kawana

Azerbaijan can hardly be considered a typical opera destination. But the country has a lot to offer opera lovers: performances of Western and Eastern European masterpieces, its own compositions, which are a unique mixture of musical traditions, and excellent singers


F1 and the limits of public diplomacy

21/07/2016 -  Chiara Loda

The economic crisis and the cold international attendance at the Baku European Games are some possible explanations for the partial change of diplomatic strategy of Azerbaijan


The hostages of Ilham Aliyev

13/05/2016 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Some political prisoners have been released by the Azerbaijani authorities in the past few months. But many are still behind bars, held as hostages


The letter of Aylisli

28/04/2016 -  Akram Aylisli

Azeri writer Akram Aylisli, banned from taking part to a Literary Festival in Italy, writes to President Ilham Aliyev presenting the meaning of his most recent work, Stone Dreams


Akram Aylisli’s Dream

07/04/2016 -  Akram Aylisli

A few days ago, the writer Akram Aylisli was due to participate in the Incontri di Civiltà literary festival in Venice. Azerbaijani authorities prevented him from attending. This is the speech he could not read


Akram Aylisli, a writer under restrictions

31/03/2016 -  Simone Zoppellaro

Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli was expected to take part to the “Incroci di civiltà” International literature festival today in Venice, but the Baku authorities blocked him at the airport. Our interview


Azerbaijan, the Nowruz amnesty

23/03/2016 -  Simone Zoppellaro

In Azerbaijan and in the rest of Europe there was satisfaction for the amnesty that allowed 15 journalists, opposition politicians and human rights activists, to return to freedom. In the Caucasian country, however, there are still too many political prisoners


Azerbaijan: Mission Nardaran Challenge

02/02/2016 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

Protests in Nardaran, a majority conservative Shia village in the outskirts of Baku, indicate a growing discontent for the country's difficult social and economic conditions


Azerbaijan, the black list

14/01/2016 -  Andrea Oskari Rossini

The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Italy has published a long list of journalists, banning them from the country


Lights, Camera, Action - Welcome to Azerbaijan’s show elections

30/10/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

With the lack of interest and competition, disbelief, and long tradition of manipulated election results it is unlikely November 1st elections in Azerbaijan will bring much change. More likely, they will only reconfirm the projections of results for these elections - one party rule on both presidential and parliamentary levels.


Azerbaijan: Aliyev’s most wanted list

04/09/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The jail sentence inflicted on investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova is the latest episode in the fight against freedom of speech in Azerbaijan


Khadija Ismayil: "I might be in prison, but the work will continue"

31/08/2015 -  Radio Free Europe

Today, August 31, Khadija Ismayil read her final statement in court. The prosecutor cut her short. Here is Khadija Ismayil's full statement


Azerbaijan: a circus trial, clowns and a glass cage

19/08/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The trial of Khadija Ismayilova, the main investigative Azerbaijani journalists in prison since last December, began last July 24 and may close as early as this week


Journalists under threat, the Geybullayeva case

22/07/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

For expressing criticism against the Azerbaijan government and collaborating with Armenian newspapers and NGOs, our correspondent Arzu Geybullayeva has been repeatedly threatened and labeled as “traitor”


Lights, fireworks, flying carpets: welcome to Baku 2015

23/06/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The European Games are not bringing to Azerbaijan the positive media coverage its authorities had expected, investing millions on the event. The best deal was Lady Gaga's


Sport Cannot Ignore Human Rights

04/06/2015 -  Michel ForstDunja MijatovićNils Muižnieks Geneva, Vienna, Strasbourg

Human rights officials highlight the crackdown on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan ahead of the inauguration of the European Games in Baku


Silence Of the Lambs, Azerbaijani Style

13/05/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The European Games in Baku are only a month away, while the list of the country's political prisoners keeps on growing


Azerbaijan’s Whitewash Summer Games

11/03/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

In June 2015, Baku will host the European Games. Human Rights watchdogs believe the international event will serve to whitewash the country’s deteriorating rights reputation


2014: The great Azerbaijani crackdown

02/02/2015 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Baku

The right to freedom of expression and association was repeatedly violated in Azerbaijan in the course of 2014. Our timeline lists the main episodes of the ongoing clampdown directed against journalists, bloggers and the local civil society


Choking up freedom in Azerbaijan

16/12/2014 -  Arzu Geybullayeva

The arrest on spurious charges of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova is being met by a disturbing silence of the international community, and shows there are no more boundaries for the Aliyev regime