Arzu Geybulla

7 Posts

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Arzu Geybulla is a freelance writer originally from Azerbaijan, currently based in Istanbul.

Night on the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh (Angelo Emma)

Armenia

Opinion | We are a generation of war

by Arzu Geybulla

•3 min read

Does loving one’s homeland mean to support war? To shut up about the violation of human rights? To be silent on the sacrifice of dozens of human lives? A comment. This article was first published by our partners at OBC Transeuropa on 1 October 2020. As I sat down to write this personal reflection on recent tensions on the frontline, I realised that writing about Nagorno-Karabakh — not as a journalist, analyst, or someone with experience working in conflict transformation, but as a citizen —

Azerbaijan

Opinion | Azerbaijan’s COVID-19 response: anything but adequate

by Arzu Geybulla

•6 min read

Azerbaijan’s response to the pandemic has been heavy-handed, authoritarian, and ineffectual. It has served the interests of its ruling elites to the detriment of ordinary citizens and its embattled opposition. As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to ravage the world, a host of authoritarian countries have used the virus as a cover to tighten control over civil society, attack journalists, and repress domestic opposition. Azerbaijan has followed in the footsteps first made by fellow autocrats

Azerbaijan

Opinion | The killing of women in Azerbaijan is a product of our society

by Arzu Geybulla

•5 min read

After a spate of recent killings of women by their spouses and ex-spouses, women in Azerbaijan are increasingly demanding change. But legislation alone is not enough; to tackle the scourge of domestic violence we need to go to the root of the problem — the societal norms underpinning the violence. On 7 October, Leyla Abdullayeva, a mother of three, was stabbed twenty times by her husband outside a subway station in downtown Baku. The next day, Natavan Mustafayeva, a single mother of four

(Mockup pictures credit: Orkhan Ata/E&M, Meydan TV)

Azerbaijan

Opinion | Cosmetic touch-ups won’t break Azerbaijan’s cycle of crisis

by Arzu Geybulla

•5 min read

In a country in need of far more profound reforms, cosmetic changes simply won’t do. The Azerbaijani government must address the underlying issues instead of buying time with occasional raises and lip-service amnesties. Three years ago, when Azerbaijan’s economy tanked as a result of a global fall in oil prices, a wave of protests swept across the country. From Siyazan, through Lankaran, Fuzuli, to Aghsu, people called on the authorities to reduce inflation and address price hikes and

Azerbaijan

Opinion | A suicide that shook Azerbaijan

by Arzu Geybulla

•5 min read

The suicide of 14-year-old Elina Hajiyeva has raised an issue long present but little talked about in Azerbaijani society — bullying. While outrage at the school and the government’s handling of her death has led to a criminal investigation, it is yet to be seen if real changes will be made to tackle the roots of the problem. There is an old Soviet drama film called Scarecrow (Chuchelo) that tells the story of a young girl, Lena, and the trauma of bullying she endures at her school. Set in a p

Azerbaijan

Opinion | A plea, a protest, and a good president: cosmetic changes in a cosmetic country

by Arzu Geybulla

•6 min read

After protests and pleas from the families of those killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agreed to pay them the compensation they had been promised. But this U-turn by the government and other small public concessions are only cosmetic changes to a country filled with injustice. It took almost four months of protests and demands for President Ilham Aliyev to finally meet the ‘mothers of martyrs’ and make an amendment to a decree he signed after securing hi

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