Azerbaijan

October 21, 2026 22:32

• The Armenian parliament commission approved the agreement on TRIPP.

  The Permanent Commission of the National Assembly on Foreign Relations gave a positive conclusion on the draft ratification of the framework agreement on strategic cooperation between Armenia and the USA on the project "Trump's Route for International Peace and Prosperity".

October 21, 2026 16:06

• A resident of Azerbaijan faced pressure due to publications about the school dress code.

  The wife of a convicted activist in Azerbaijan received a demand from security forces to delete social media posts about the ban on wearing hijabs in schools and about her child's exclusion from classes.

October 21, 2026 12:39

• Azerbaijani analysts questioned the exchange of exclaves with Armenia.

  The idea of exchanging enclaves and exclaves between Baku and Yerevan sparked heated debates among Armenian and Azerbaijani social media users: both sides took categorical positions against the surrender of land. Azerbaijani analysts, however, allowed for a coordinated exchange considering legal grounds and security interests, but disagreed on the strategic value of the territories and the possibility of transferring Armenia's exclaves.

October 21, 2026 08:47

• The prosecution requested 12 years of imprisonment for Imran Aliyev.

  The prosecutor requested 12 years of imprisonment for the head of the Azerbaijani website Meclis.info, Imran Aliyev, and 11 years for activist Elgiz Gahraman. The prosecutor's speech was interrupted after the third defendant, accountant Tamella Musaeva, felt unwell.

October 21, 2026 05:52

• Polad Aslanov has been hospitalized.

  The journalist Polad Aslanov, who declared a hunger strike in protest against the restrictions imposed by the Azerbaijani authorities on wearing the hijab, has been hospitalized in a medical facility of the penitentiary service.

October 20, 2026 14:40

• Azerbaijani political scientists questioned the justification for the hijab ban in schools.

  The school administration in Azerbaijan still does not allow schoolgirls and teachers in hijabs to attend classes, which violates the right to education and the principle of secularism, noted political scientists. A lawyer allowed for a legal challenge to the restrictions, although he pointed out legal obstacles to such lawsuits.

October 19, 2026 18:05

• Doctors acknowledged the deterioration of the condition of the editor-in-chief of Meydan TV.

  Journalist Aynur Elgyunesh has been transferred from the Baku pre-trial detention center to a medical facility, and after examination, doctors confirmed the need for urgent surgery.

October 19, 2026 14:21

• The authorities of Azerbaijan have employed forceful measures against opponents of the hijab restrictions.

  To enforce the hijab restrictions, the authorities of Azerbaijan have widely involved security forces who detain activists and protesters. Many social media users stated that preventive conversations would suffice instead of arrests for many of them. Azerbaijani opposition figures condemned the authorities for the arrests of activists.

October 19, 2026 10:48

• Polad Aslanov is in a punishment cell.

  The administration of the correctional facility has placed the editor-in-chief of the online publications Xeberman.com and Press-az.com, Polad Aslanov, in a punishment cell, who had previously declared a hunger strike in protest against the restrictions imposed by the Azerbaijani authorities on the hijab.

October 18, 2026 08:59

• Human rights defenders called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to lift restrictions on hijabs.

  The international human rights organization called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to lift restrictions on wearing hijabs in schools and to release those detained for peaceful protests against these restrictions. Denying female students access to classes due to religious clothing violates the rights to education, freedom of religion, and self-expression, human rights defenders stated.

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