Representation on the Functioning Democracy and Media Freedom in Azerbaijan

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a serious step towards institutionalization and organization was taken in the country while Azerbaijan achieved independence. However, both external and internal dynamics have disrupted these reforms. Azerbaijan survived three coups between 1992-1995, which made Azerbaijan weak in implementing these reforms. The existence of a developed democracy in Azerbaijan, which is governed by Sultanistic-authoritarianism, is still a controversial issue. Fraudulent elections, one-party dictatorship, censorship of the media and pressures against the opposition are frequently mentioned by the allegations of the people who argue that democracy is not institutionalized. These truthful claims were also identified by international observers. The Azerbaijan state, which cannot find a solution to these problems, ignores these issues. The fact that the culture of democracy is not fully established in the country, which has been ruled by Russian monarchy and communist governments for centuries, makes the problem unsolvable. While development is still the first priority in the country, concepts such as “human rights” and “constitutional state” have been kept away from being frequently mentioned by the government. The absence of democracy in Azerbaijan causes it to have many elements such as nepotism and bribery that will blunt the society from within. Unfortunately, citizens of the country still face these two problems in order to carry out their work in the bureaucracy. This situation causes damage between the citizens and the state. In this study, the political and constitutional structure of Azerbaijan has been mentioned and the freedom of the press and media, which are indispensable for democracy, has been emphasized. While the constitution of Azerbaijan guarantees freedom of the press, it is known that the majority of newspapers in Azerbaijan are published in state-owned printing houses. The state's effectiveness on newspapers, radio and televisions should not be overlooked. The existence of a free media still poses a problem in Azerbaijan. Therefore, while discussing the problem of democracy in Azerbaijan, newspapers and local and foreign authors were used as a method.

Keywords

Azerbaijan, Democracy, Elcibey, Aliyev, Media