AZERBAIJAN: NEW CONSORTIUM OF NGOS FORMED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAKU 000484 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL AJ SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN: NEW CONSORTIUM OF NGOS FORMED REF: A. A. BAKU 387 ¶B. B.BAKU 477 Classified By: Ambassador Anne Derse for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a June 12 meeting with the Ambassador, the leadership of the new Azerbaijani NGO Consortium "The Dialogue for Peace and Progress" discussed issues including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs),the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) resolution, human rights, women's rights and media freedom in Azerbaijan. Each of the seven leaders asserted that GOAJ public statements on progress on resolving NK are false. They also stated that President Aliyev has chosen a Russian model for political development -- particularly in light of proposed changes to the NGO law -- and is actively working against European integration despite public statements to the contrary. Generally, they expressed a fear for the future of civil society and Azerbaijan's political development as a whole. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On June 15, the Ambassador hosted a meeting with seven leaders of the newly formed "Dialogue for Peace and Progress" Consortium. The Consortium is lead by executive director, Azer Allahveranov of the Eurasia Civic Initiative Platform. Each of the leaders of the Consortium is experienced in working on civil society problems in Azerbaijan and each has a distinct circle of responsibility. To this end, they are able work together and focus their efforts, while simultaneously covering a broad range of issues. The Consortium was established on the symbolic date of May 10, in protest to the state's celebration of former president Heydar Aliyev's birthday. This celebration was denounced by many in the opposition as inappropriate in the wake of the April 30 State Oil Academy Shooting (ref a). According to an official memorandum, the Consortium goal is to develop a dialogue process within Azerbaijan in order to support public initiatives to solve the nation's many problems. Each individual of the Consortium spoke on behalf of his/her issues of interest. RESPONSE TO PROPOSED CHANGES TO LAW ON NGOS -------------- ¶3. (C) Saadat Bananyarli, head of the International Service for Human Rights, spoke at length about the GOAJ's proposed changes to legislation regarding the operations of NGOs in Azerbaijan (ref b). There is no justification for this law in her opinion and it will make it nearly impossible for a non-military resolution of the NK conflict to occur. In her argument, to which the other Consortium leaders agreed, NK's resolution is linked to the democratization of Azerbaijan. Many sectors of society, especially refugees are kept out of the resolution process. She also mentioned that a large number of people have come to her and her colleagues to protest this law. Some colleagues and she met with Members of Parliament (MPs) in attempt to talk about these changes, but the MPs were unwilling to listen. She also stated that MPs are of a different stratum of Azerbaijani society and are unable to understand the problems that the new legislation will cause for the general population. ¶4. (C) Novella Jafarova, head of the Women's Rights Defense Association, also spoke about the changes in the NGO legislation. She argued that "the top ten people" in GOAJ want to have full control over every aspect of the Azerbaijan's governance. She went as far as to say that the GOAJ no longer cares about foreign opinions of their actions and claimed some officials had stated they would be prepared to remove foreign embassies from Azerbaijan if they criticized the GOAJ's decisions. Jafarova also brought up the continuing divide between opposition groups and civil society. She told an anecdote about visiting a military base in Qalabey. Afterward, she stated truthfully in the press that the soldiers' conditions were relatively good. According to her, in response, the opposition Azadliq newspaper attacked her for apparent pro-government statements, going as far as to call her a traitor for not denouncing the abuses inherent in the Azerbaijani military. From this story, one can infer that the opposition press is unwilling to report good news, despite it coming from a reliable non-governmental civil society figure. All members of the Consortium mentioned the need for the opposition political parties to work together, and the fact that they BAKU 00000484 002 OF 003 did not have a plan for reconciliation besides dialogue. ¶5. (C) Saida Gojomanli, head of the Bureau of Human Rights and Respect for the Law, expressed fear for the future of her country. In her discussions with MPs, they mentioned that they were not afraid of Azerbaijan being kicked out of the Council of Europe. She explained their naivet on the actual repercussions of such a move as stemming from their basic lack of political knowledge. These MPs almost by chance fell into their positions after the 2005 parliamentary election which was widely criticized for being unfair and therefore do not possess the qualities of real politicians. In her opinion, the Consortium's main goal should be trying to stop radical steps being taken by the government. If Azerbaijan were to leave the Council of Europe, she could envision the country being closed to outside influence. ALL GOVERNMENT PROGRESS ON NK "A SHOW" -------------- ¶6. (C) Karim Karimli, head of the "Internally Displaced Person" Public Union, works on issues related to the situation of the many IDPs in Azerbaijan. Karimli, himself an IDP, was forced from his home in Shusha during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. His mission is trying to dispel much of the hate that still surrounds the NK issue. Perceptions of Armenians as enemies must be put to rest for progress to be made. However, military criminals, on both sides, must be prosecuted for a lasting peace to be made. A dialogue is needed between members of the general publics of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Finally, the resolution of NK is necessary for progress to be made in all aspects of social, economic and political development of Azerbaijan. He dismissed the GOAJ's efforts on NK as a show. ¶7. (C) Avaz Hasanov of the Society of Humanitarian Research works on issues related to the resolution of the NK conflict. In his opinion, the GOAJ was not working towards resolution. All of their talk about progress is false. Rather, maintaining a state of war allows the GOAJ to more easily maintain their position. He travels throughout the region, including to Armenia and NK, to meet with people to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh resolution. In his opinion, the GOAJ allows him to conduct his work, and other "people to people" diplomacy, because they want to have these activities as a potential scapegoat in the future if something were to occur. However, this possibility has not discouraged him from his work. EURO-INTEGRATION VS. THE RUSSIAN MODEL -------------- ¶8. (C) Many of the Consortium's members talked about the government now openly embracing a Russian model of governance. The Ambassador asked the group why the GOAJ was pursuing such a model given Azerbaijan's complex history with Russia, and the fact that Russia is so often blamed as responsible for the NK conflict and its lack of resolution. This elicited a number of responses. ¶9. (C) Rauf Rajabov, head of the "Third View" Information-Analytic Agency, declared that despite the GOAJ's long standing position that it is committed to European integration, recent actions have shown otherwise. He firmly believes that President Aliyev has already chosen Russia as Azerbaijan's development model. Along with the increased number of Russian institutions opening up in Azerbaijan, the GOAJ is actively promoting a disdain for Europe. With his work focusing on media freedom, he sees the GOAJ's ban on foreign broadcasts in Azerbaijan as more evidence of their anti-European attitudes. In the state-run media, European integration is bashed. The perceived "worst aspects" of Europe such as drugs and open homosexuality are often pointed to as reasons to shun Euro-integration. ¶10. (C) The GOAJ does not want the general population to know anything about Europe, commented Bananyarli. The ruling elite and their families were educated in Europe and understand that if the general public was exposed to European values, it would be difficult for the government to rule. Hasanov said that values such as rationality, democracy and freedom of speech are seen as dangerous to the future of the GOAJ and are therefore stifled. In the future, GOAJ could make legislation even more rigorous and more controlling. BAKU 00000484 003 OF 003 When questioned about the recent signing of the Eastern Partnership with the European Union, Hasanov replied that the GOAJ is only hoping to maintain their international image, while shunning real reforms to advance Azerbaijan's European integration. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (C) The organization of a new, broad-based NGO consortium with a focus on increasing public dialogue on tough issues is an important step. One of the weaknesses of Azerbaijan's civil society and political opposition has been its fragmentation, personalization of leadership and inability to agree on a common vision and platform of action, making both NGO's and parties less effective than they could be in stemming restrictive GOAJ steps and overly reliant on international support. With few accessible sources of independent news and few areas where open debate can take place in Azerbaijan, this effort to organize more public discussion also should be welcomed and encouraged. The Consortium's assessment that Azerbaijan has essentially now "made its choice" with respect to political development, moving openly towards a Russian model, is in our view regrettably accurate, but also appears to be the stimulus that is galvanizing much needed cooperation among those opposed to this direction. DERSE