Vol. 2 (2025)
Articles

The Breakup of Civil Society in Post–War Azerbaijan

PDF
  • Cesare Figari Barberis,
  • Mirkamran Huseynli
Cesare Figari Barberis
Leiden University, The Netherlands
Mirkamran Huseynli
Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/asiac-3466

Published 2025-11-10

Keywords

  • Civil society,
  • Azerbaijan,
  • Autocratisation,
  • War,
  • Anti-War

How to Cite

Figari Barberis, C., & Huseynli, M. (2025). The Breakup of Civil Society in Post–War Azerbaijan. ASIAC – Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus (SCC), 2, 25–43. https://doi.org/10.36253/asiac-3466

Copyright (c) 2025 Cesare Figari Barberis, Mirkamran Huseynli

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

In the backdrop of devastating war(s) between Armenia and Azerbaijan, rising authoritarianism in the country and the shrinking space for civic participation, Azerbaijan’s civil society has undergone various moments of contestation and transformation. In this article, we argue that the 2020 Karabakh war was one of those moments – a turning point which led to the rupture, if not breakup, of civil society from within. Most of the civil society strongly supported the war, exceptionally aligning itself with the autocratic government. A minority – made up of liberals, leftists and feminists – opposed the war, becoming stigmatised as “traitors” by society and the government alike. We argue that the 2020 Karabakh war catalysed disagreements within the civil society regarding its identity, normative role and positionality vis-à-vis the state, eventually leading to its fragmentation into mutually isolated circles. No scholarly article has yet analysed in depth these post–2020 developments of Azerbaijani civil society. The article is based on semi-structured interviews collected from forty-three anti-war activists. Notably, we find that “no–war” civil society actors began to view the pro-war actors as less legitimate, if not illegitimate, members of the society. Having (in)directly supported the autocratic regime and further autocratisation, they failed to play their role qua civil society as counterbalance to the state. We conclude by discussing government’s recent reaction to these developments, especially in light of the ongoing peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

PDF

References

  1. Abbasov, Ilham, and Sergey Rumyantsev. 2012. “Ways to perpetuate the past: Analyzing the images of ‘others’ in Azerbaijani history textbooks”. In Contemporary history textbooks in the South Caucasus, edited by Luboš Veselý, 33–56. Prague: Association for International Affairs.
  2. Alieva, Leila, and Bakhtiyar Aslanov. 2018. “How autocracy impedes desecuritization, or why democracy matters: The case of Nagorno–Karabagh in the eyes of Azerbaijanis”. Caucasus Survey.
  3. Altstadt, Audrey L. 2017. Frustrated democracy in post–Soviet Azerbaijan. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press; New York: Columbia University Press.
  4. Amnesty International. 2024. “Azerbaijan. Academics arrested on fabricated charges: Igbal Abilov and Bahruz Samadov”. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur55/8554/2024/en/.
  5. APA. 2025. “Hrach Topalyanın Bakıda ‘no war’çı fabriki [‘No–War’ fabric of Hrach Topalyan in Baku]”. https://apa.az/iii-sektor/hrach-topalyanin-bakida-no-warci-fabriki-faktlar-885621?fbclid=PAY2xjawH9-9lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABpmuVJwdxRxMi-VAGe9_ymHlGNH16oIHC7j0CqMZXLdqsoiDFQ70HQO_dfQ_aem_wPWZjNsTxRPL6mi1HhwvrA.
  6. Aslanov, Leon, and Togrul Abbasov. 2022. “Conceiving Armenian–Azerbaijani relations through the lens of cinema: From Perestroika until the present day”. Caucasus Edition: Journal of Conflict Transformation 5 (2): 96–128.
  7. Baku TV. 2024. “Bəhruz Səmədov niyə ermənilərə işlədi [Why Bahruz Samadov spied for the Armenians]”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrtGQuakSCgandt=402s.
  8. Balfour, Rosa, Laura Gelhaus, and Marta Matrakova. 2020. “The changing landscape of civil society in the Eastern Partnership”. German Marshall Fund, October 12. https://www.gmfus.org/news/changing-landscape-civil-society-eastern-partnership.
  9. Barberis F., Cesare, and Mirkamran Huseynli. 2025. “Obliged to Hate: The Successful Stigmatisation of Anti-War Voices in Azerbaijan.” Review of International Studies 51(3): 431–48.
  10. Barberis F., Cesare, and Ahmad Mammadli. 2024. “The emergence of democratic movements and their systematic repression in Azerbaijan”. Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI), February 6. https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/the-emergence-of-democratic-movements-and-their-systematic-repression-in-azerbaijan-162642.
  11. Barberis F., Cesare. 2024. “The Baku Research Institute (BRI): An Independent Think Tank in Azerbaijan”. In The Palgrave Handbook of Non-State Actors in East-West Relations, edited by Marton, Peter, and Gry Thomasen, Csaba Békés, and András Rácz. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
  12. Booth, John A., and Patricia Bayer Richard. 1998. “Civil society and political context in Central America”. American Behavioral Scientist 42 (1): 33–46.
  13. Chandhoke, Neera. 2007. “Civil society”. Development in Practice 17 (4–5): 607–14.
  14. Delcour, Laure, and Kataryna Wolczuk. 2021. “Mind the gap: Role expectations and perceived performance of the EU in the South Caucasus”. Eurasian Geography and Economics 62 (2): 156–77.
  15. Ergun, Ayça. 2022. “Citizenship, national identity, and nation–building in Azerbaijan: Between the legacy of the past and the spirit of independence”. Nationalities Papers 50 (4): 813–30.
  16. Gadimova-Akbulut, Nazrin, and Anush Petrosyan. 2024. “Perceptions at War: Exploring Public Attitude Formation in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict”. Caucasus Survey 13(2): 163-190.
  17. Gahramanova, Aytan. 2009. “Internal and external factors in the democratization of Azerbaijan”. Democratization 16 (4): 777–803.
  18. Gamaghelyan, Philip, and Sevil Huseynova. 2024. “Challenges to building a viable alternative to ethnonationalism in the Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict setting”. Caucasus Survey 12 (3): 265–93.
  19. Gamaghelyan, Philip, and Sergey Rumyantsev. 2021. “The road to the Second Karabakh War: The role of ethno-centric narratives in the Nagorno–Karabakh conflict”. Caucasus Survey 9 (3): 320–36.
  20. Georges, Laurie. 2025. “Knowledges That Cannot Be Known: Structuring Azerbaijani Attachment to Nagorno-Karabakh.” Nationalities Papers: 1–23.
  21. Ghazaryan, Flora, and Mirkamran Huseynli. 2022. “Armenian and Azerbaijani history textbooks: Time for a change”. Caucasus Edition: Journal of Conflict Transformation 5 (1).
  22. Goyushov, Altay, and Ilkin Huseynli. 2019. “Halted democracy: Government hijacking of the new opposition in Azerbaijan”. In Politik und Gesellschaft im Kaukasus: Eine unruhige Region zwischen Tradition und Transformation, edited by O. Leiße. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
  23. Goyushov, Altay. 2021. “A brief description of Azerbaijani nationalism from its inception to today”. Baku Research Institute, September 6. https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/en/a-brief-description-of-azerbaijani-nationalism-from-its-inception-to-today/.
  24. Huseynli, Ilkin. 2024a. “A Complaint About Potential Ziyali”. Baku Research Institute, June 10. https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/en/a-complaint-about-potential-ziyali/
  25. Huseynli, Ilkin. 2021b. “Academic freedom and university: The case of Azerbaijan”. In La liberté académique: Enjeux et menaces, edited by V. Frangville, A. Merlin, J. Sfeir, and -E. Vandamme, 133–43. Brussels: Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles.
  26. Ismayil, Zohrab, and Ramute Remezaite. 2016. “Shrinking space for civil society in Azerbaijan”. Caucasus Civil Initiatives Center, July 13. http://www.caucasusinitiative.org/en/researchs/2.
  27. Kamilsoy, Najmin. 2023. “Unintended transformation? Organizational responses to regulative crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan”. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies: 1–20.
  28. Kamilsoy, Najmin. 2025. “Precarious Organizational Professionalization and Civic Engagement in the South Caucasus”. Problems of Post-Communism: 1–13.
  29. Kopecký, Petr, and Cas Mudde. 2003. “Rethinking civil society”. Democratization 10 (3): 1–14.
  30. Korsten, Thijs, and Viktoria Kobzeva. 2023. “‘We often scream to a wall and no one hears us’: Activists struggle for justice in post-war Azerbaijan”. Lossi 36, March 2. https://lossi36.com/2023/03/02/we-often-scream-to-a-wall-and-no-one-hears-us-activists-struggle-for-justice-in-post-war-azerbaijan/.
  31. Kösen, Mustafa Gökcan, and Emre Erdoğan. 2023. “‘Now we are whole’: Humiliation, shame and pride in Aliyev’s discourse on the 2020 Nagorno–Karabakh War”. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 23 (3): 571–88.
  32. LeftEast. 2022. “Anti-War Statement of Azerbaijani Leftist Youth.” LeftEast, September 18, 2022. https://lefteast.org/anti-war-statement-of-azerbaijani-leftist-youth/.
  33. Lewis, David. 2001. “Civil society in non-Western contexts: Reflections on the ‘usefulness’ of a concept”. Civil Society Working Paper Series. London: Centre for Civil Society, London School of Economics and Political Science.
  34. Lewis, David. 2013. “Civil society and the authoritarian state: Cooperation, contestation and discourse”. Journal of Civil Society 9 (3): 325–40.
  35. Luciani, Laura. 2023. “Navigating a ‘shrinking space’: Selective in/visibilities and EU engagement with civil society in Azerbaijan”. Europe–Asia Studies 75 (10): 1720–43.
  36. Marchetti, Raffaele, and Nathalie Tocci. 2009. “Conflict Society: Understanding the Role of Civil Society in Conflict”. Global Change, Peace & Security 21(2): 201–17.
  37. Meydan TV. 2023. “Qarabağ müharibəsinə yox. ‘No-war’çılar niyə belə düşünür [No to the Karabakh war. Why ‘No-War’ supporters think like that]”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGECxsk84Ug.
  38. Musavi, Nika. 2024. “The psychological consequences of the Karabakh wars in Azerbaijan: The womanly face of trauma”. Heinrich Böll Stiftung, May 10. https://ge.boell.org/en/2024/05/10/psychological-consequences-karabakh-wars-azerbaijan-womanly-face-trauma.
  39. Namazov, Khayyam. 2021. “Emerging political feminism in Azerbaijan: The most visible other”. Heinrich Böll Stiftung South Caucasus, October 25. https://feminism-boell.org/en/2021/10/25/emerging-political-feminism-azerbaijan-most-visible-other.
  40. Pearce, Katy E. 2024. “Managing the visibility of dissent: Stigma, social media, and family relationships among Azerbaijani activists”. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.
  41. Pfeilschifter, Veronika, and Figari Cesare Barberis. 2023. “State dominance and its discontents among Azerbaijani youth”. Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS), December 13. https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/publications/zois-spotlight/state-dominance-and-its-discontents-among-azerbaijani-youth.
  42. Pishchikova, Kateryna, and Valeria Izzi. 2011. “Engaging civil society in peacebuilding”. In Conflict society and peacebuilding: Comparative perspectives, edited by Raffaele Marchetti and Nathalie Tocci. New Delhi: Routledge India.
  43. Sahakyan, Naira. 2022. “The rhetorical face of enmity: The Nagorno–Karabakh conflict and the dehumanization of Armenians in the speeches of Ilham Aliyev”. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 23 (4): 863–82.
  44. Samadov, Bahruz, and Mane Grigoryan. 2022. “Formation of discourses of national identity in Armenia and Azerbaijan: From the path to independence to nationalist hegemony”. Caucasus Edition: Journal of Conflict Transformation 5 (1).
  45. Samadov, Bahruz. 2023. “The memory of the Second Karabakh War and the future of the national lack in Azerbaijan”. Caucasus Analytical Digest 133.
  46. Sander, Alena. 2023. “Rethinking shrinking civic space in the Global Souths—How development donors contribute to the restriction of civil society in Jordan”. Democratization 30 (1).
  47. Shirinov, Rashad. 2015. “Civil society in Azerbaijan: Testing alternative theories”. Caucasus Analytical Digest 73.
  48. Sotieva, Larissa. 2021. “Collective wounds: Societal trauma and the Karabakh conflict”. Independent Peace Associates, December. https://indiepeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/societal-trauma-karabakh_ENGLISH.pdf.
  49. Spasić, Ivana. 2003. “Civil society in Serbia after Milošević: Between authoritarianism and wishful thinking”. Polish Sociological Review: 445–61.
  50. Toepler, Stefan, Annette Zimmer, Christian Fröhlich, and Katarina Obuch. 2020. “The changing space for NGOs: Civil society in authoritarian and hybrid regimes”. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 31 (4).
  51. United Nationa Human Rights (UNHR). “Azerbaijan: UN experts urge release of researchers Igbal Abilov and Bahruz Samadov, charged with treason.” https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/azerbaijan-un-experts-urge-release-researchers-igbal-abilov-and-bahruz.
  52. Voice of America. 2024a. “İctimai fəal və yazar Səməd Şıxının polis tərəfindən saxlanıldığı bildirilir [An activist and a writer Samad Shiki is reported to be detained by the police]”. https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7221094.html.
  53. Voice of America. 2024b. “Müstəqil tədqiqatçı Cavid Ağa saxlanıldıqdan sonra sərbəst buraxıldığını, ölkədən çıxışına məhdudiyyət qoyulduğunu bildirib [An independent researcher Cavid Agha reported that after being released, he received a travel ban]”. https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/7758739.html.
  54. Yeni Musavat. 2023. “no war”çıların dosyesi. Onlar harada və necə yetişiblər? [The dossier of No-War supporters. Where and how were they brought up?]”. https://musavat.com/news/no-war-cilarin-dosyesi-onlar-harada-ve-nece-yetisibler_1001622.html?d=1.
  55. Young, Iris Marion. 2000. Inclusion and democracy. Oxford Political Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.