Editor of Talysh Magazine Complains of Oppression in Sadarak Shopping Center

Baku / 02.26.19 / Turan: The editor-in-chief of the Alem magazine, published in the Azerbaijani and Talysh languages, the poet Vugar Hamati, announced the unreasonable closure of his shop in the Sadarak shopping center.

He believes that this is due to his distribution in social networks of photographs of readers with the magazine Alem in the shopping center Sadarak.

In an interview with Turan, he said the photos were taken on February 22 and on the same day he shared them on Facebook. The next day, his store in the Confectionery sector was closed, allegedly due to non-payment of rent. Despite the notice on the door, Khamati opened the store and after a while, accompanied by a police officer and security officers, he was taken to the administration of the Sadarak shopping center.

After he proved that he had no debts, he was released, but after a few hours he was called to the legal department of the shopping center.

"There was a head of the department called Azer and a few more people. They began to question me about my contacts with Fakhraddin Abbaszadeh (wanted for appeals against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan) and Alikram Hummatov (convicted of proclaiming a separatist entity Talysh-Mugan Republic). That's when I realized that the closure of the store is connected with the magazine Alem. I said that I have no connections with these people and I generally condemn their views. I am a supporter of Azerbaijani statehood, multicultural Azerbaijan," said Hamati.

On February 24, he continued to work. However, on February 25 he was again summoned to the legal department.

"This time they made a complaint to me that, supposedly, I"m not okay with the documents and the store is not in my name. When I brought a notarized power of attorney to use the store until 2041, the head of the legal department made it clear that the problem was not connected with lease. A decision from above is required to let me continue working," Hamati said.

Hamati noted that he had not yet complained to the state authorities. The Alem magazine has been published since 2016 once a quarter at Hamati"s own expense with a circulation of 200 copies.

According to him, the journal publishes materials on the Talysh language and culture, and also languages ​​of other nations. "Our magazine is based on the ideas of Azerbaijani statehood and the multiculturalism of our country," Hamati said.

Turan failed to get comments from the shopping center Sadarak. The phone number listed on the market page on Facebook proved to be invalid. -06B--