AZE.US
Azerbaijani politician and public figure Ilgar Mammadov has sharply criticized the current state of public debate on foreign policy in Azerbaijan.
In a Facebook post, Mammadov recalled that six years ago, during the war, interviews given by the president to foreign and local journalists were widely supported by society. In his view, the country’s position at the time was strong because it had been shaped through years of relatively open foreign policy discussions.
“What was said then was a product of society itself,” Mammadov wrote. According to him, over a 26-year period, Azerbaijan’s national stance matured and was refined through the daily exchange and clash of differing opinions.
He argues that this environment has since changed. Public discussion of foreign policy, he says, has effectively been curtailed and replaced by the promotion of theses and narratives originating exclusively from the top.
Mammadov maintains that while foreign policy remains a frequent topic in the information space, substantive debate is largely absent. He also claims that any deviation from the official line is often framed as evidence of foreign influence or disloyalty.
In his view, the suppression of open discussion weakens not only the presentation of the country’s foreign policy, but also the process of developing a sound national strategy.
Mammadov warned that in the long term, limiting public debate could lead to serious international miscalculations affecting every citizen.
There has been no official response to his remarks at the time of publication.