Arzu Geybulla - openDemocracy

We are a generation of war

As war rages over Nagorno Karabakh, does loving one’s homeland mean to support war and to shut up about the violation of human rights?

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 6 Oct 2020

How does Facebook explain the disappearance of police violence videos in Azerbaijan?

In the wake of a recent protest wave in Azerbaijan, content relating to police violence has disappeared from social media and been blocked from the web.

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 16 Dec 2019

How does Facebook explain the disappearance of police violence videos in Azerbaijan?

In Azerbaijan, a hunger strike is the only remaining hope for justice

Mehman Huseynov, an Azeri blogger, is facing new fabricated charges in prison. But people inside and outside the country are coming together to try and free him.

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 21 Jan 2019

Azerbaijan’s blocking of websites is a sign of further restrictions online

This month has seen yet another series of attacks on internet freedom.

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 31 Aug 2018

Could a hashtag challenge the Aliyev regime?

Azerbaijan's political migrants are behind a new public campaign to draw attention to authoritarian rule at home. Judging by the reaction, it has the regime rattled.

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 3 Apr 2018

Azerbaijan’s authoritarianism goes digital

2018 is an election year in Azerbaijan. The authorities may have the streets on lockdown, but the fight against dissent in cyberspace is just beginning.

By Arzu Geybulla and Hebib Muntezir

/ 2 Feb 2018

Revenge by red notice: how Azerbaijan targets its critics abroad

The Azerbaijani authorities are using international criminal warrants to pursue their critics abroad. It looks like they’re getting away with it.

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 23 Oct 2017

Stopping the spin from Azerbaijan’s very special laundromat

We all know about Baku’s international efforts to whitewash criticism of human rights abuses. What makes these latest revelations so different?

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 29 Sep 2017

How Azerbaijan is losing its brains

Educated young people in Azerbaijan see few prospects for work at home – and even fewer if they’re critically-minded. Русский

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 18 May 2017

In the crosshairs of Azerbaijan’s patriotic trolls

Azerbaijan has taken its crackdown against dissent to the internet. Opposition publications and journalists are routinely harassed – by both paid trolls and true believers. Azərbaycanca

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 22 Nov 2016

Meet N!DA, the exclamation mark that terrified the Azerbaijani authorities

Azerbaijan’s youth activists are facing brutal repression from the state. But despite the risks, young people are still willing to get involved.

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 25 May 2016

Azerbaijan’s 2016: sink or swim?

Protests have broken out in Azerbaijan against rising prices and falling living standards. Will the regime respond with anything but brute force?

By Arzu Geybulla

/ 5 Feb 2016