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AZERBAIJAN UNDERMINES ITS INTERNATIONAL IMAGE: DOES IT MATTER FOR ALIYEV GOVERNMENT?
Foreign Policy Journal
March 23 2015
by Alakbar Raufoglu March 23, 2015
The Azerbaijan government's crackdown against independent journalists
and has exposed its authoritarian nature to a broader western audience.
Azerbaijan is making itself a welcome home among neighboring states
-- from Russia to Iran, to the wider Middle East -- that deny basic
rights to their citizenry and ignore ways democratic states treat
their citizens.
Does Ilham Aliyev government care about its image in the West? Until
recently it seemed like it did.
For years, the oil-reach Caspian country has been trying to spruce up
its image by hosting international events such as Eurovision, Global
Internet Forum, OSCE Parliament Assembly summit, as well as the first
European Games, due this summer. Aliyev and his team have also been
spending a sufficient amount of money for lobby efforts in the U.S.
and European capitals.
However, recent moves by the government of Azerbaijan to crack down
on western and local organizations as well as restrict the media have
caused a very negative effect on the country's international image
and, according to some analysts, also on perceptions of the business
climate in Azerbaijan.
Azeri officials: "Why us?"
"Why are we being targeted by the western media? Is that because we
want to be the U.S. ally?" Azeri government emissaries, key members of
the Parliamentary International Relations committee Samad Seyidov and
Asim Mollazade asked an audience in Washington D.C. early last month.
Speaking at Capitol Hill Club, Seyidov said the relations between the
two countries sometimes are affected by the "less significant problems
related to human rights in Azerbaijan", and this negatively affects the
country's attempts to create closer relations with Europe and the U.S.
America, added Asim Mollazade, should "protect freedom in my
country..."
Unlike Azeri officials, many in the West though see human rights,
freedom of expression, freedom of the media to investigate and report
on the facts as essential factors for democracy, and their lack as
a lead to corruption and authoritarianism.
Azerbaijan once opened its doors to westerners. Slapped by Soviet
Moscow, Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era
leader, had returned to his native Azerbaijan to head the country and
oversee the unprecedented opening and rapid expansion of Azeri oil-gas
industry, after taking over the governance at home in 1993. He invited
leading western business and civil society groups to Baku, urged them
to hire local employees, and lifted censorship from the media.
But things have changed in Azerbaijan under his son Ilham Aliyev,
who has succeeded in bringing the pro-western Azeri civil society
and media to heel.
Aliyev senior once called the media "a mirror of the society." Today,
under his son's leadership, that mirror has been taken away from
Azeris. Their media is nothing if not entertaining, with a daily diet
of outrageous shows, news, and movies. Rather than using state media
to mobilize his supporters - like his father had - Ilham Aliyev sees
it as means to placate and distract the population.
Crackdown...
Current arrests of journalists and rights defenders in Azerbaijan
are part of a broader crackdown.
It initially started as a response to western criticism to October
2013 presidential election.
Once the election was over, Aliyev, who announced his victory for
the third period, wasted no time in launching a broad crackdown on
civil society, particularly those who were involved in the election
monitoring process.
Although many observers and political leaders in the West have
expressed grave concerns about the deteriorating situation in
Azerbaijan, the arrest of Anar Mammadli, head of Azerbaijan's most
respected election monitoring group, as well as accusations against
western institutions in Baku, didn't immediately have an effect on
Aliyev government's international reputation.
Aliyev had succeeded in blunting international and domestic criticism
through his considerable lobby policy by pointing to his and his
father's significant political achievements. The repression largely
escaped international attention until last summer, when Aliyev
overplayed his hand.
Dozens of rights defenders, critical activists, scores of journalists
were rounded up for allegedly undermining stability in the country;
private media companies and NGOs came under intensive political
pressure, and most were subjected to punitive tax penalties; and
critical commentators--investigative journalists such as Khadija
Ismayilova and others--were publicly excoriated by the high-level
officials.
The arrests of journalists Rauf Mirgadirov, Seymur Hazi, Khadija
Ismayilova and many others vastly increased the level of international
attention on the press freedom and situation of the civil society
in Azerbaijan.
However, prior to Ismayilova's arrests, it was easier for the Aliyev
government to cast the crackdown against the media as part of its
anti-Armenian propaganda. But after Khadija's arrest even many in
the country began sounding an alarm.
Unquestionably the government also took advantage of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and informational war environment to
recast his crackdown on critical dissent not as "censorship" but as
a legitimate response to a mounting threat to national security. The
strategy resonated because Azerbaijan does face threats from variety
of actors in the region.
In late December 2014, the authorities raided the local Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) office, Azadliq Radiosu, taking all the
staff for questioning, seizing computers, and sealing the offices. The
staff was later questioned again, without legal representation,
some in the middle of the night in their pajamas.
The crackdown against independent journalists, activists had given
a golden opportunity to disrupt Azeri government's narrative of
progress. It exposed the authoritarian nature of the government to
broader western audience and simultaneously made the government even
more authoritarian.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/03/23/azerbaijan-undermines-its-international-image-does-it-matter-for-aliyev-government/
From: A. Papazian
Foreign Policy Journal
March 23 2015
by Alakbar Raufoglu March 23, 2015
The Azerbaijan government's crackdown against independent journalists
and has exposed its authoritarian nature to a broader western audience.
Azerbaijan is making itself a welcome home among neighboring states
-- from Russia to Iran, to the wider Middle East -- that deny basic
rights to their citizenry and ignore ways democratic states treat
their citizens.
Does Ilham Aliyev government care about its image in the West? Until
recently it seemed like it did.
For years, the oil-reach Caspian country has been trying to spruce up
its image by hosting international events such as Eurovision, Global
Internet Forum, OSCE Parliament Assembly summit, as well as the first
European Games, due this summer. Aliyev and his team have also been
spending a sufficient amount of money for lobby efforts in the U.S.
and European capitals.
However, recent moves by the government of Azerbaijan to crack down
on western and local organizations as well as restrict the media have
caused a very negative effect on the country's international image
and, according to some analysts, also on perceptions of the business
climate in Azerbaijan.
Azeri officials: "Why us?"
"Why are we being targeted by the western media? Is that because we
want to be the U.S. ally?" Azeri government emissaries, key members of
the Parliamentary International Relations committee Samad Seyidov and
Asim Mollazade asked an audience in Washington D.C. early last month.
Speaking at Capitol Hill Club, Seyidov said the relations between the
two countries sometimes are affected by the "less significant problems
related to human rights in Azerbaijan", and this negatively affects the
country's attempts to create closer relations with Europe and the U.S.
America, added Asim Mollazade, should "protect freedom in my
country..."
Unlike Azeri officials, many in the West though see human rights,
freedom of expression, freedom of the media to investigate and report
on the facts as essential factors for democracy, and their lack as
a lead to corruption and authoritarianism.
Azerbaijan once opened its doors to westerners. Slapped by Soviet
Moscow, Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era
leader, had returned to his native Azerbaijan to head the country and
oversee the unprecedented opening and rapid expansion of Azeri oil-gas
industry, after taking over the governance at home in 1993. He invited
leading western business and civil society groups to Baku, urged them
to hire local employees, and lifted censorship from the media.
But things have changed in Azerbaijan under his son Ilham Aliyev,
who has succeeded in bringing the pro-western Azeri civil society
and media to heel.
Aliyev senior once called the media "a mirror of the society." Today,
under his son's leadership, that mirror has been taken away from
Azeris. Their media is nothing if not entertaining, with a daily diet
of outrageous shows, news, and movies. Rather than using state media
to mobilize his supporters - like his father had - Ilham Aliyev sees
it as means to placate and distract the population.
Crackdown...
Current arrests of journalists and rights defenders in Azerbaijan
are part of a broader crackdown.
It initially started as a response to western criticism to October
2013 presidential election.
Once the election was over, Aliyev, who announced his victory for
the third period, wasted no time in launching a broad crackdown on
civil society, particularly those who were involved in the election
monitoring process.
Although many observers and political leaders in the West have
expressed grave concerns about the deteriorating situation in
Azerbaijan, the arrest of Anar Mammadli, head of Azerbaijan's most
respected election monitoring group, as well as accusations against
western institutions in Baku, didn't immediately have an effect on
Aliyev government's international reputation.
Aliyev had succeeded in blunting international and domestic criticism
through his considerable lobby policy by pointing to his and his
father's significant political achievements. The repression largely
escaped international attention until last summer, when Aliyev
overplayed his hand.
Dozens of rights defenders, critical activists, scores of journalists
were rounded up for allegedly undermining stability in the country;
private media companies and NGOs came under intensive political
pressure, and most were subjected to punitive tax penalties; and
critical commentators--investigative journalists such as Khadija
Ismayilova and others--were publicly excoriated by the high-level
officials.
The arrests of journalists Rauf Mirgadirov, Seymur Hazi, Khadija
Ismayilova and many others vastly increased the level of international
attention on the press freedom and situation of the civil society
in Azerbaijan.
However, prior to Ismayilova's arrests, it was easier for the Aliyev
government to cast the crackdown against the media as part of its
anti-Armenian propaganda. But after Khadija's arrest even many in
the country began sounding an alarm.
Unquestionably the government also took advantage of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and informational war environment to
recast his crackdown on critical dissent not as "censorship" but as
a legitimate response to a mounting threat to national security. The
strategy resonated because Azerbaijan does face threats from variety
of actors in the region.
In late December 2014, the authorities raided the local Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) office, Azadliq Radiosu, taking all the
staff for questioning, seizing computers, and sealing the offices. The
staff was later questioned again, without legal representation,
some in the middle of the night in their pajamas.
The crackdown against independent journalists, activists had given
a golden opportunity to disrupt Azeri government's narrative of
progress. It exposed the authoritarian nature of the government to
broader western audience and simultaneously made the government even
more authoritarian.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/03/23/azerbaijan-undermines-its-international-image-does-it-matter-for-aliyev-government/
From: A. Papazian