Featured stories about Azerbaijan
Stories about Azerbaijan
22 January 2019
Azerbaijani prosecutors drop controversial charges against political prisoner
Activists cheered the concession as a victory of people power.
8 January 2019
Azerbaijanis pressure government to #FreeMehman after blogger endures 12 days on hunger strike

Young, popular and politicized, video blogger Mehman Huseynov is a classic target of the Azerbaijani government's crackdown on civil society.
4 July 2018
Authorities blame air conditioning as Azerbaijan plunges into darkness
"As soon as he got on the phone, all he could talk about was the heat inside the jail."
12 April 2018
#KnowYourDictator: Political Emigres and Their Hashtags Haunt Azerbaijan's Re-elected Strongman

Having largely suffocated opposition at home, newly-elected President Ilham Aliyev is finding ways to hurt activists living abroad.
21 March 2018
On World Poetry Day, Some Verses Straight From Persia's Heart

"The sadness in my heart, like a mountain/The heart under your chest, like a stone."
9 February 2018
Netizen Report: Cyber Attacks Sideline Independent Media in Azerbaijan, Philippines

The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world.
3 January 2018
Will We Ever See the End of Information Control in Azerbaijan?

Legal reforms restricting online speech seem to threaten everyone but the ruling elite of Azerbaijan.
12 November 2017
Azerbaijani Activist Defies Government Pressure, NGO Stereotypes
"What I've seen during my lifetime is that most of the democracy and freedom fighters sold out in the end."
10 September 2017
Pioneering Theatre in Azerbaijan Offers a Stage to Actors with Disabilities
“This is not a social project, it’s not a hobby, we are working professionally.”
5 August 2017
Think You've Mastered Tongue Twisters? Try Them in Lezgi!

While widely spoken in the Caucasus, Lezgi is an endangered language. But YouTube users are doing their best to save it.
1 June 2017
Spare a Thought for the Dissidents Living in Fear of the Azerbaijani State's Long Arms
Afghan Mukhtarli thought he had escaped Azerbaijan. He ended up back there, without his passport and facing jail time.
19 May 2017
Azerbaijan Blocks Independent Media (And Actually Admits it)

"This was one thing we had left and they have taken it too. May God punish them. All they think about is how to shut people up."
14 May 2017
Activists Say Azerbaijan’s Media Is Spreading Fear and Hate of Queer People
"Sometimes journalists forget their power, and mislead people with their unprofessional manners."
16 March 2017
Netizen Report: Azerbaijani Bloggers Targeted with Legal Threats, Spearphishing

Censorship is up in France, China is censoring scientists (again), and Facebook tells developers to stop using network data for surveillance.
3 March 2017
In Azerbaijan, Another Blogger Gets Jail Time

"Instead of investigating credible allegation of ill-treatment, Azerbaijan jails outspoken critic #MehmanHuseynov for two years."
21 February 2017
Government in Azerbaijan: It's a Family Affair!
President Ilham Aliyev just made his wife First Vice President. What did your Valentine give you?
10 February 2017
Travel Blogger Faces Eight Years in Azerbaijan Prison Over Nagorno-Karabakh Visits and Posts

One blogger, three passports and the intricate international relations of the Caucasus region. This gets pretty complicated.
24 January 2017
Azerbaijan's Last Rail Stop Before Nagorno Karabakh Is a Quiet Place, When It Isn't Getting Hit by Shells
Welcome to Kocharli: the end of the line.
9 December 2016
Two Young Activists Get 10 Years in Jail Each After Graffiti on Azerbaijan Patriarch's Statue

"I don’t want to be remembered by apologising in my final statement. I refuse to see myself as a prisoner. I am a lover of freedom."
27 November 2016
In the Hands of the Azerbaijan Government, Beloved Novel Becomes Nation-Branding Infomercial
"Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of President Ilham Aliyev, was the executive producer of the film, which cost a reported $20 million to make."