Civil society activists about the meeting with Ali Hasanov

Civil society activists express different opinions on the results of yesterday’s meeting with Ali Hasanov, the head of the department of the Presidential Administration.

   "The initiative to hold such a meeting came from the Council for State Support to NGOs under the President.  Previously, independent NGOs have not been invited to such meetings. After receiving the invitation, we decided to take part, and present the authorities our position," said in an interview with Turan reporter Anar Mamedli, the head of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDSC). He spoke about the political and legal obstacles to the activities of NGOs. In particular, the problem of registration, the de facto ban on NGO activities in the country.

  Mamedli said that the reactions and behavior of Ali Hasanov at the meeting was fairly open and constructive. "If the initiative has a real sequel, we can expect positive results from this dialogue," he said.

   However, the head of the Forum "For Azerbaijan" Eldar Namazov refused to participate in the meeting. "The idea of ​​dialogue is positive and we have repeatedly argued for the dialogue of the government with the opposition and civil society. However, participation in such dialogue is Possible only if the authorities are sincere and really want to strengthen civil society, and not do it all from some conjuncture considerations.   We used to have similar meetings before, but they did not have any results, and the situation deteriorated even more," said Namazov.

      Such meetings should be prepared jointly with the government and civil society, and its format, agenda; possible next steps should be agreed in advance. 

     In addition, not only the representatives of the presidential administration, but also the heads of other departments should be involved in the dialogue. "There are many questions to the Justice Ministry, the Central Election Commission, other agencies, Namazov said.

     He negatively assessed the allegations by Ali Hasanov, that NGOs should not take side of the political forces. "Yes, it's a good idea, but it is characteristic of democratic societies; and when the elections are falsified, NGOs can not remain silent about the violations.”

   NGOs can not remain silent when embezzlement of budget funds and oil income are detected. The same  is true about human rights defenders and independent press, which  after criticizing  the human rights violations and corruption, unwittingly become politicized and become enemies of the government, said Namazov.

    Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD) Leyla Yunus was not invited to the meeting. She believes that the government initiated a meeting due to difficult geopolitical situation around Azerbaijan.

      The situation around Iran has aggravated, and Putin's Russia does not promise Baku anything good. In this situation, the cooperation with the West is important for strengthening the position of the ruling regime in Azerbaijan.

    However, the harsh criticism of the West due to violations of human rights requires some Steps, and the authorities are trying to create the appearance of democracy, says Yunus.

     "If the government does not imitate a desire to  make reforms, it must first immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners from the list of  the PACE rapporteur, Christopher Strasser, as well as to release Hilal Mamedov, Avaz Zeynalli, Ilham Amiraslanov, and to  stop prosecuting of   Oktay Gyulalyev, Mehman Huseynov and other activists and journalists,  Leyla  Yunus said.—06B-