Interview with an Azerbaijan civil society activist
Dr Leila Alieva, President of the Center for National and International Studies in Baku, Azerbaijan, speaks to CIVICUS about the deteriorating civil society environment in her country. She paints a picture of bureaucratic barriers, threats of closure against organisations and denials of opportunities to hold meetings, and the targeting of human rights lawyers, with a government fearful of dissent in the wake of the Arab Spring enabled by other governments’ foreign policy focus on energy and security rather than democratisation. In the face of this, Azerbaijani civil society needs international solidarity and support.