Youth activist Giyas Ibrahimov, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016, addresses supporters upon being released. (Turan Information Agency)
Almost 400 prisoners have been released in Azerbaijan after President Ilham Aliyev issued an amnesty to mark the Novruz holiday. Fifty-two of those receiving pardons are widely considered by rights groups and international organisations to be political prisoners. [Read more…]
President Ilham Aliyev on a meeting with martyrs’ families. (Official photo)
The Azerbaijani government has reacted swiftly in recent months to complaints in the media and online. While many speculate this may be a sign of a more open government in the country, others point to external factors and say they have seen it all before. [Read more…]
Arzu Geybulla is a freelance writer originally from Azerbaijan, currently based in Istanbul.
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. [Read more…]
Thomas de Waal is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, a London-based think tank.
Thomas de Waal, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and a prolific writer on the South Caucasus recently sat down with OC Media. He discussed democracy in Abkhazia and the international community’s role there, and the recent thaw in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
(Meydan TV)
The Azerbaijani authorities have dropped new charges against imprisoned anti-corruption blogger Mehman Huseynov following large protests in the capital. Thousands gathered in Baku on Saturday calling for Huseynov’s release and an end to political prosecutions and corruption in the country.
Having swept to power in a landslide electoral victory, the new government of revolutionary leader Nikol Pashinyan is now laying out its vision for a ‘New Armenia’ — with ambitious plans for peace and reform.
A still from a video at the summit
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have vowed to reduce tensions and set up a direct hotline between the two sides, after a meeting in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. [Read more…]
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Facebook)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has concluded a three-day long tour to the South Caucasus. During her trip Merkel faced questions about Georgia’s Western ambitions, her position on the region’s conflicts, and human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, and also suggested Georgians may soon be able to work in Germany. [Read more…]
On Wednesday, several media outlets belonging to the Azerbaijani media holding APA misquoted President Ilham Aliyev as saying ‘we will bring Armenia to its knees’. Despite later apologising for the mistake and taking the story down, their websites went offline.
A screenshot from the February interview with Afgan Mukhtarli (/Rustavi 2)
Since exiled Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli disappeared from Tbilisi, reappearing a day later in an Azerbaijani jail, suspicions of Georgian involvement in his kidnapping have remained. Mukhtarli himself has accused the Georgian government of complicity, and while this is a charge they deny, local rights groups are becoming impatient with the pace and transparency of the official investigation into his disappearance.
