CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 36

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA
The well-balanced foreign policy of Azerbaijan allows to diversify the
sources of military supply without putting into dependence its military as-
pirations on one country. Till now, Azerbaijan achieves large-scale suc-
cesses in terms of military build-up and technical development and ex-
pansion of military industry, which precisely fi ts the provisions and goals
of the MD adopted in 2010.
Data and Findings
Analysis of the Martial Law of RA 63
On February 14, 2017, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
signed a decree on Martial Law (ML) which put the bill into the force.
The law was drafted in accordance with the Constitution of the RA and
provisions of the Military Doctrine. Occupation of Azerbaijani territories,
threat to the territorial integrity and possibility of war declared to Azer-
baijan are mentioned as emergency cases when the ML can be used (MD
indicates that possibility of aggression by Armenia is high, 5.42).
The ML provides grounds for a high level of public securitization.
First of all, the Article 1.3 of the ML sets the principle of military censor-
ship assuming a strict control over mass media. This directly contradicts
to the Article 50 of the Constitution of the RA. The article on freedom of
information indicates, that “media censorship, including the press is pro-
hibited” (Constitution of the RA, 2016). The law also supposes TV broad-
cast and radio restrictions, control of internet or telephone conversations,
bans rallies and the right of people to assembly. The ML emphasizes the
importance of the restriction and confi dentiality of military information
– information about situation in the front-line, number of casualties, etc.
Moreover, the public will get the information that the government wants
to deliver without having the chance of alternative sources. Consequent-
ly, the law legalizes the “manipulation of information” and supposes the
spread of “right” data in order to create a sense of fear, obedience, and
mobilization of society.
Moreover, if before the revision of the law President could appeal to
Milli Mejlis to announce martial situation and it should discuss the appeal
during 72 hours, now the time limit was reduced to 48 hours (6.2). This
eliminates procedural diffi culties, eventually, leading to the monopoly of
power in the hands of Aliyev clan, suppression of the opposition and se-
curitization of the Azerbaijani public domain.
63
“The Martial Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Azertag.az, April 5, 2017 https://azertag.az/
xeber/Herbi_veziyyet_haqqinda_Azerbaycan_Respublikasinin_Qanunu-1048586 (accessed 15
June, 2018).
36