Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev last faced questions that had not been agreed in advance at the Munich Security Conference. The Azerbaijani president, who had travelled to Germany, briefly answered questions from pro-government media on February 13. However, independent media representatives present at the scene were not given the opportunity to ask questions.

The president’s security service blocked journalist Emin Huseynov and tried to remove him from the area. At that moment, Huseynov called on Aliyev to “answer the questions of independent media.” In response, Aliyev said, “There is no independent media in the world,” and walked away.

At the time, Azerbaijan ranked near the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index - 167th out of 180 countries. A year later, Azerbaijan fell four more places, dropping to 171st.

The president’s response was, indirectly, an admission that the press in Azerbaijan is not free. The journalists who recorded the exchange were later instructed not to broadcast it. The president’s remarks were not aired on any television channel. As confirmation that there is no free media in Azerbaijan.

Of course, from 171st place, one cannot see the countries ahead where a free press exists. But this invisible freedom had once been brought to the attention of the presidential family by a French journalist.

It must have been around 2015. While Mehriban Aliyeva was on an official visit to France, a French journalist approached her and asked questions. The journalist asked, “Do you consider Azerbaijan a tolerant country?” Aliyeva replied, “Of course, it is.” The journalist then said, “Because there are currently many political prisoners in Azerbaijan’s prisons.”

At that moment, the first lady’s security service stepped in and tried to remove the journalist. The French journalist said: “We are in France, and we can ask questions. Do you know that journalists can ask questions in France?” However, the security service stopped him, saying, “Be quiet.”

Yes, in France, as in other countries around the world, journalists can ask critical questions to the president and members of his family. But in Azerbaijan, journalists do not ask the president questions; they live up to his trust. Just as the media worker who received an apartment in the building constructed for journalists in Bayil on the president’s instruction once said: “We will live up to your trust.”

So how do they live up to the president’s trust? By praising him and not asking questions about problematic areas.

Because there is no independent media in the world (read: in Azerbaijan).

In France, journalists can ask critical questions to the president and his family. In Azerbaijan, however, the president hears such questions from the journalists imprisoned under his rule.

For example:

• Why did you later change the Constitution twice in your own favour, after placing your hand on it during your first inauguration?
• At the time, you also placed your other hand on the Holy Quran. Why did religious believers, alongside political opposition figures, become political prisoners throughout your rule?
• Since having the Constitution amended, you are now serving your fifth term as president. Have you ever watched the legal violations that took place during these elections?
• Before every election, you are required by law to declare your income. So why do you not do so?
• Your family’s business has appeared in corruption investigations. How were the investments for these businesses, measured in billions, obtained?
• Officials whom you appointed to high positions have been accused of corruption crimes both in the media and later in statements by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Many of these people were also awarded by you while in office “for their good service.” What criteria are your personnel choices and assessments based on?
• According to the Constitution, underground and above-ground resources belong to the people. So why did these resources not improve the people’s living conditions?
• Every year, defence receives the largest allocation from the state budget. So why, during the war, did ordinary people have to provide everything for the army, from food to socks?
• You said, “Shusha will not be a city of officials, but a city of culture.” So why are the largest projects across Karabakh, including Shusha, going to your family companies without tenders?
• You came to power after Heydar Aliyev’s death. You have been in power for 23 years. So when do you plan to leave?

These are only some of the questions we would like to ask the president. Whether we will have the opportunity to ask him these or other questions is still unknown.

With the hope that one day the sentence “This is France. Journalists can ask questions here” will become “This is Azerbaijan. Journalists can ask questions here.”

Ulvi Hasanli
Nargiz Absalamova
Elnara Gasimova
Sevinj Vagifgizi