Azerbaijan: “The Sultan” Steps Down

Arzu Geybulla

Istanbul-based Azerbaijani writer

Tuesday, 24 January, 2023

The link has been copied

Vasif Tabilov’s official title for the last 27 years has been the chair of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan’s remote enclave sandwiched between Armenia, Turkey and Iran. He was, however, more popularly known as the lord, the sultan, the predator, and the strongman to name but a few.

The announcement he would step down, citing health concerns, triggered rumours that the 62-year-old was joining the growing list of high-level government officials to unwillingly leave office in recent years.

Until December 21, Tabilov ruled over what is often described as Azerbaijan’s North Korea or the country’s Black Island. His regime was tainted by gross human rights violations and lack of basic freedoms. He appointed loyalists as local ministers, passed laws arbitrarily, dismantled the independent judiciary and oversaw powerful security agencies, all the while amassing large fortunes.

Part of the rumours around his resignation stem from President Ilham Aliyev’s interest in ending Nakhchivan’s autonomy. On November 18, during a meeting with Talibov, Aliyev expressed displeasure over dismal local revenues and the lack of full transparency in the enclave’s budget.

Siyavush Novruzov, a member of parliament, told local media platform Yeni Musavat that Aliyev was the only person who could tell Talibov that it was time to leave his post.

“There has been a transformation process among high level government officials over the last five to six years,” Anar Mammadli, chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre (EMDS) told IWPR. “Many of those who were appointed during the days of [former president] Heydar Aliyev including Talibov were being replaced. It was a matter of time until his turn came too. The ruling elite is interested in centralised authoritarian rule. So they have been replacing many of those previous officials across the country and now in Nakhchivan.”

Indeed, in late 2022 central government cracked down on corruption in Nakhchivan, with some top officials sacked and investigated. In November, a senior customs official was arrested on embezzlement charges. Days later, the local customs committee was dismantled on Aliyev’s orders and management transferred to the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee.

Rafael Aliyev, who was Nakhchivan’s minister of finance, was also arrested in November and removed from his position on January 12, 2023. Neither Talibov nor his family have been charged with corruption, although local media expect allegations to surface. In 2021 a journalistic investigation exposed his two sons’ financial dealings and accused them of money laundering.

An OCCRP investigation published this week alleged that a Turkish entrepreneur had acted as a front for Talibov and his family, building up a multibillion dollar business and property empire.

Mammadli did not anticipate Talibov or his family facing legal action from the regime, as long as they agreed to transfer the businesses they have accumulated throughout the time Talibov has been in power to the state.

“If however, this fails, then the likelihood of facing criminal proceedings on corruption or other charges is possible. We should at least expect a travel ban,” Mammadli said.

FLAMBOYANT RULE

Talibov pursued a series of idiosyncratic policies after he came to power in 1995. His decrees included banning female civil service employees from dying their hair or wearing colourful, patterned tights and he got rid of chai khanas - tea houses - and traditional home bread ovens. He also enforced compulsory labour days – similar to “subbotniks” observed in Soviet times - for all the enclave’s residents, introduced curfews and regularly violated human rights.

In 2012, Reporters Without Borders described Talibov as “a high priest of the [Aliyev] personality cult, [with] carte blanche in his fiefdom,” who “eliminated all forums for discussion and dissident opinion…restricted interested access [and] turned Nakhchivan into a laboratory for the repressive methods.” In 2010 Aliyev awarded him the “medal of glory”.

No one in Baku paid much attention to the fact that Talibov routinely violated the state constitution, election code and law on civil service. In 2020, local fact checking platform Fakt Yoxla reported that members of the Azerbaijan parliament like Talibov were “prohibited from assuming a position in a state body,” according to several national legislation documents.

The Aliyevs are themselves from Nakhchivan, and Aliyev’s father was the uncle of Talibov’s wife. This may have been a reason to overlook his behaviour.

Other speculate that Talibov’s resignation signalled Aliyev’s plans to further extend his one-man rule. Azer Gasimli, the director of the Political Management Institute in Baku, told Azadliq Radio that “decisions serve the interest of the centre, which means that Azerbaijan successfully created a one-man system and autocracy of one family”.

Since Talibov stepped down, there have been further reports of local government reshuffles and dismissals. In December 2022 Hijran Rustamov, the chairman of the Urban Planning and Architecture Committee of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, was arrested on embezzlement charges. The day after Talibov’s resignation, an authorised representative office of the president of Azerbaijan was established in the enclave. The presidential decree stated that the office and its head report directly to the president, who also determined their powers. The newly appointed representative was tasked with fighting corruption and addressing popular concerns.

Talibov’s brother Maharram, who served as the deputy prosecutor of Nakhchivan, was dismissed from his duties on January 2, 2023. Minister of Interior Rashad Ismayilov was also replaced, and both positions filled by officials appointed by Baku. Talibov’s daughter Baharkhanim Talibova was dismissed from her position as a member of the Supervisory Board at the Nakhchivan Bank, the only regional bank in Azerbaijan.

Daily Nakhchivan, a Facebook page managed by exiled Nakhchivan natives and one of the few independent sources on the region, said that since Talibov has gone, local residents have been flooding the Supreme Assembly with meeting requests for Fuad Najafli, the newly appointed presidential representative. Thus far, according to the post, most had been turned away.

Mammadli did not predict any major changes now that a representative of central government had been appointed to administrate the region.

“There are many challenges in Nakhchivan,” he said. “Reforms must include the return of its residents, including investors and businessowners, who have been leaving the enclave over the course of the last 30 years. New employment opportunities and structural reforms are needed [and] social infrastructure. And I don’t think official Baku is interested in that because regional management in Azerbaijan is based on orders from the centre. This is why I don’t expect any serious reforms in Nakhchivan.”