Is the dialogue of the Azerbaijani authorities with civil society possible?

Presentation of the new joint project of the Council of Europe and the European Union "Civil Society Dialogue" took place on Thursday.   Ali Hasanov, the assistant to the President on Social and Political Issues reiterated the creation of all conditions for the activities of NGOs. At the same time, he rejected criticism of Azerbaijan  on toughening legislation. "Some representatives of the public sector and international organizations criticized the changes in legislation in recent years, arguing that it hampers the development of NGOs. In fact, these changes have been made to increase transparency and simplify the relationship between NGOs and the state," Hasanov said. Referring to allegations of expulsion from the country of authoritative international donors, Hasanov said that now "the most important donor for NGOs is the Azerbaijani government itself."

More than 5,000  projets amounting 33million manat have been funded over the past 3.5 years, through the NGO Support Council and the Youth Fund, said  Hasanov, but "forget" to mention that these funds were used to finance pro-government activities and projects that reflect the attitude and policy of the authorities.

Hasanov noted with pleasure that since 2013 the Azerbaijani government has become a donor  of projects abroad too, without specifying where and what was funded.

Director of the Democratic Governance CoE Directorate General Claudia Luciani, in turn, noted that the project "Civil Society Dialogue"  intended for two years has two main purposes: improving the NGO legislation and bringing it into line with Council of Europe standards; enhance the capacity of NGOs and government agencies involved in public relations associations

Luciani recalled the recommendations of the secretary general of the Council of Europe to improve conditions for NGOs in member countries and outlined the position of the Council of Europe recommendations on the concept of "political activities of NGOs."

"In a number of Council of Europe countries are obstacles to the independent NGO under the pretext of the exercise of political activity. The Council of Europe seeks to clarify what is meant by the notion of "political activities of NGOs." Of course, NGOs are not political parties, but they reflect the different interests in society," said Luciani.

The head of the Baku office of the Council of Europe Dragan Filipovic said that active and creative civil society and independent courts are  an essential part of democracy. The project aims to promote dialogue in order to develop civil society in Azerbaijan.

"Open Society is an important prerequisite for long-term development and stability,"  said the head of the EU mission in Azerbaijan, Ambassador Malena Mard. She emphasized that civil society plays an important role in government accountability and good governance.

"Civil society is important so that it is better to bring the voices of people government to create a better life for all," she said. Head of the Council of Europe project Eteri Kamarauli said that the project will be analyzed by the legislation of Azerbaijan  in the field of NGO, and made recommendations to bring it to the CE standards. In addition, the Council of Europe will hold trainings for NGOs and government agencies to improve their capacity.

It should be noted that until now the Azerbaijani authorities only imitated the dialogue with civil society, choosing a partner only among pro-governmental NGOs (GONGOs.)

Independent civil society institutions also were defeated in the last two years - were subjected to criminal prosecution, arrest of bank accounts and a ban on working with international donors.–06C--