{"id":211555,"date":"2014-08-28T13:13:25","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T13:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/azerbaijan-media-and-regulators-a-family-affair\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T12:05:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T08:05:32","slug":"azerbaijan-media-and-regulators-a-family-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-media-and-regulators-a-family-affair\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan: Media and Regulators a Family Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n This investigative story was originally written by Khadiya Ismayil for
\n
\n Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Projec
\n <\/a>
\n t (OCCRP) and Radio Liberty (RFE\/RL).\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n Sona Veliyeva is a busy woman.\n<\/p>\n

\n She manages a Kaspi newspaper, is a member of the National TV Radio Council, and owns and manages several companies dealing with
\n
\n education and university preparation courses
\n <\/a>
\n .\n<\/p>\n

\n She also happens to be the wife of
\n
\n Ali Hasanov
\n <\/a>
\n , the head of the social-political department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, who is one of the key figures defining the government\u2019s policies regarding media, freedom of speech and political liberties. She and her family have benefited from regulating many of the businesses they own. \u00a0It has created a number of conflicts of interest that have not been dealt with by the Azerbaijani government.\n<\/p>\n

\n Another busy member of the Hasanov family is their son, Shamkhal Hasanli.\n<\/p>\n

\n Among other businesses, Hasanli is director of the Araz Radio and produces soap operas. His Kaspi Global is one of the production companies which benefits from the ban on broadcast of foreign soap operas on Azerbaijani frequencies.\n<\/p>\n

\n The soap operas were banned by the National TV Radio Council (NTRC), on which his mother–Sona Veliyeva\u2014
\n
\n serves
\n <\/a>
\n . His father, Ali Hasanov, explains that the ban was necessary because the government wants to support local producers.\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n In an April 30, 2012 interview with local media, Hasanov said
\n <\/a>
\n , \u201cI don\u2019t think TV series produced by our companies will get into other countries\u2019 broadcasts. International, well-established production companies do have this opportunity. This is why our local choice can only be to broadcast on local TV channels.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n He explained that the government\u2019s support, which came through a special presidential decree came about because the President didn\u2019t want Azerbaijan to lag behind other countries: \u201cFor this we must have our own series and films reflecting our national soul. The Azerbaijani broadcast arena is the only place where we can develop our national mentality, national films and our culture and (preserve) our population\u2019s national soul.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Kaspi Global has produced three TV series, including \u201cThe Breath of the Jackal,\u201d which is about the struggles of Azerbaijani women and was
\n
\n financed by the state budget
\n <\/a>
\n . Hasanli has not responded to a request for an interview.\n<\/p>\n

\n Entertainment is not the only focus for Hasanli\u2019s business, which is thriving thanks to family connections. In April of 2011, the NTRC
\n
\n allocated a frequency
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0to Araz FM, a radio station linked to the Hasanov family. The frequency is 103.3 FM, which was previously held by BBC\u2019s Azerbaijani service, which was banned (apparently for political reasons) in 2009.\n<\/p>\n

\n Hasanov, who supported the BBC frequency ban, said
\n
\n state law bars foreign entities
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0from broadcasting in Azerbaijan. And yet that aspect of the law did not seem to apply when the Hasanovs requested a license for a company that has foreign investors.\n<\/p>\n

\n Araz FM is
\n
\n owned
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0by the company Araz Teleradio, which in turn is
\n
\n incorporated by Golden Prince LLC
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0and an individual named Etiram Karimov.
\n
\n Golden Prince LLC
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0was incorporated in 2008 by Iranian citizen Sirous Ghouchkhani and Azerbaijani Azer Veliyev. Veliyev, reportedly a relative of Sona Veliyeva (Hasanov\u2019s wife and Hasanli\u2019s mother) is her business partner in several entities.\n<\/p>\n

\n In 2010, when Araz FM got its broadcasting license, the issue of foreign ownership never came up, says Rasul Jafarov, who competed with Araz Teleradio for a license. Jafarov was seeking a license for his The Alternative Radio project in 2010, but did not get one. Objective TV, an online TV resource, has also failed to obtain a license. Yet Araz FM was granted a license for six years of broadcasts, according to a Jan. 18,
\n
\n 2011 decision of the NTRC
\n <\/a>
\n . Jafarov filed a legal complaint against what he calls \u201cpolitical discrimination and nepotism by (the) NTRC.\u201d The case is pending in the European Court of Human Rights.\n<\/p>\n

\n Araz Teleradio is registered at the same address as all other companies related to the Hasanov family. At the opening ceremony for one of the Araz FM studios in Park Bulvar shopping mall, Shamkhal Hasanli was presented as the general director of the radio and cut the ribbons.\n<\/p>\n

\n The only press club big enough to host more than 30 people in Baku is also linked to the Hasanov family.\n<\/p>\n

\n The International Press Center started operations in 2003 at the same address where all the family businesses are registered, 1 Fikret Amirov Street. \u00a0In 2010, the press club moved to bigger space so it could handle even bigger events, as director Azer Veliyev, Hasanov family\u2019s
\n
\n business partner
\n <\/a>
\n ,
\n
\n said to the APA agency
\n <\/a>
\n . Since the new press center began operations, two independent press clubs closed down due to financial problems and because landlords refused to extend their leases.\n<\/p>\n

\n Chingiz Sultansoy, the executive director of the Baku Press Club which closed in December 2004, says several months before they stopped operations, he received a phone call from Ali Hasanov, who urged him to deny space to Chechen human rights activists, as the event could spoil relations with Russia. \u201cWhen I refused, Hasanov threatened saying, \u2018Do you want us to close that Press Club?\u2019 That day, our electricity was cut off in the middle of the press conference. Electricity cut-offs were somewhat usual practice during unwanted events,\u201d Sultansoy recalls.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Hasanov family\u2019s education-related business benefitted from another government action \u2013 the \u00a0closure of competing schools linked to the Gulen movement.\n<\/p>\n

\n The Gulen Movement is a trans-national religious, educational and social movement led by Turkish
\n
\n Islamic
\n <\/a>
\n scholar and preacher
\n
\n Fethullah G\u00fclen
\n <\/a>
\n . The movement has schools throughout the world, including in the United States, and reportedly controls a large network of alumni, including high-level government employees in countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan.\n<\/p>\n

\n The movement and its leaders once enjoyed good relations with the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan but two years ago the relationship soured. Erdogan began closing down Gulenist schools and businesses.\n<\/p>\n

\n Now the conflict has spilled over into other countries with significant ties to Turkey.\n<\/p>\n

\n The network of Gulenist schools in Azerbaijan had been run by a Turkish businessman, who in March of 2013 joined forces with the
\n
\n State Oil Company (SOCAR)
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0to form the Azerbaijan International Education Center Public Union.\n<\/p>\n

\n But in December of 2013, a huge corruption scandal erupted in Turkey, with Gulenists alleging that Erdogan and his son were involved. Suddenly Gulen became an even dirtier word with the Turkish government, and former supporters began scrambling for cover.\n<\/p>\n

\n Turkish press reported that in his visit to Azerbaijan in April, Erdogan
\n
\n asked the Azerbaijani government
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0to follow his example and shut down the Azerbaijani Gulen network. SOCAR
\n
\n closed the schools
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0in June.\n<\/p>\n

\n This shift in Azerbaijani government policy has led to finger-pointing among competing interests, with rivals eager to seize advantage by painting each other as Gulenists.\n<\/p>\n

\n For example, the Kaspi Education Center\u2019s university preparation courses, which are
\n
\n run by Sona Veliyeva
\n <\/a>
\n , has several branches throughout the capital city, which had been lagging far behind the Gulen network schools in popularity.\n<\/p>\n

\n Critics on social media predicted that the anti-Gulen movement in Azerbaijan could only boost Kaspi\u2019s popularity.\n<\/p>\n

\n Hasanov appears to have been trying to distance himself from the Gulenists even prior to the Erdogan visit. On March 7,
\n
\n Hasanov spoke
\n <\/a>
\n \u00a0at a religious affairs conference in Baku. He stated that some religious movements and missionary organizations are trying to establish themselves in Azerbaijan and to \u201ccreate an extensive network in order to realize their interests\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n But he may not have done enough. After the conference, Farhad Mammadov, a former Hasanov employee called for journalists to try to identify Gulen people in the government.\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n Mammadov
\n <\/a>
\n , former sector chief of the presidential administration and currently the head of the Strategic Research Center under the president, urged journalists to look specifically for those in traditional Gulenist business sectors: schools, media, and medical facilities.\n<\/p>\n

\n Gulen supporters are likely to be doing the same things in Azerbaijan as they are in Turkey, Mammadov said. \u201cFirst of all, it is university preparation courses, then clinics and media. I have to say, neither myself, my wife or nor our son owns any preparation courses, or education structures\u2026 (or) radio or production facilities\u2026 Me, my wife and my child don\u2019t own any clinic or medical facility.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The list of business fields Mammadov described is quite similar to those, Hasanov\u2019s family business controls.\n<\/p>\n

\n Here is the list of the companies related to Hasanovs:\n<\/p>\n