Eurasianet: Govt campaign targets Azerbaijan's anti-war activists

PanARMENIAN.Net - Political activist Bahruz Samadov has published a fresh article on Eurasianet, arguing that amid the growing suppression of the few remaining vocal critics of the Azerbaijani government, a fierce campaign has been launched against "no war" activists in the country.

Samadov writes that until now, the Azerbaijani government never directly persecuted anti-war voices, who have largely been ignored by the official and state-controlled media and subjected only to online harassment from nationalists.

“But now a fierce campaign against "traitors" in mainstream media has created a sense of foreboding among activist circles. Considering the regime's high level of public legitimacy, the recent arrest of prominent economist and opposition politician Gubad Ibadoglu, and the arrests of striking gig economy workers, these fears may further paralyze the most controversial field of progressive activism in Azerbaijan,” the article says.

“The campaign seems to have been triggered by a statement issued by the Feminist Peace Collective that called on the Azerbaijani government to end its now-9-month-old blockade of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region. The statement accused the government of "instrumentalizing identity politics" to divide Azerbaijanis and Armenians and placed the Karabakh blockade in the same context as domestic repressions such as the lockdown of the village of Soyudlu after environmental protests there in June.”

The backlash was swift.

"'Feminist Peace Collective': A new 'opposition group' protecting Armenians is being established in Azerbaijan," read one headline. The article asserted that the peace movement was part of a broader nefarious campaign by the EU and Canada to propagate LGBT and "anti-national" ideas among Azerbaijanis.

Soon, Samadov says, the "anti-anti-war" campaign was in full swing. After the Liberal Society organized a discussion in Baku on the state of "no war" activism since 2020, media and even officials called for the "traitors" to be punished.

According to him, headlines like "Local 'No War' supporters: The mask of betrayal has fallen" and "Azerbaijani no war-ists' liberalism means supporting terrorists: video of betrayal" were used in the media campaign to discredit the activists.

“In such an oppressive environment, the "no war" community feels frightened and threatened, and many are now choosing to keep quiet and avoid media attention. For many progressive activists - and indeed for the entire political spectrum of Azerbaijan - the future is uncertain and not promising,” the activist says.