“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
After the 2020 war, and especially following the depopulation of Artsakh in September 2023, Azerbaijan began to present itself to the world from the position of a victor—assuming the right to even offer ‘lessons’ on conflict resolution. Ilham Aliyev's administration soon started to close the offices of international organizations operating in Azerbaijan, justifying it with the need to ‘protect the country from external threats.’ Between 2023 and 2025, the Azerbaijani authorities, known for human rights violations and crackdowns on the media, banned several international organizations and media outlets in Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani branch of “Transparency International,” the anti-corruption NGO “Transparency Azerbaijan,” the EU’s largest educational exchange program “Erasmus+,” and offices of other reputable institutions have been shut down or are facing the threat of closure. Azerbaijani authorities also revoked the accreditation of correspondents from BBC News, Sputnik, Bloomberg, and Voice of America.
Due to a reevaluiation of cooperation priorities with the UN and accusations of bias regarding the issue of Artsakh, Azerbaijan announced its intention to close four UN offices: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Baku justified the decision arguing that the “liberation of Azerbaijani territories,” the “counter-terrorism operation,” and the country’s progress in recent years have enabled Azerbaijan to rely on its own resources and capacities for the implementation of social projects. It was also emphasized that now Azerbaijan is a donor to numerous other countries.
While acknowledging that UN programs contributed to the country’s institutional development during the early years of independence, Azerbaijani officials pointed out that the UN could redirect those resources to crisis zones and countries in greater need. They also emphasized that Baku no longer requires the support of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as it is capable of returning its citizens to the “liberated territories” using its own resources.
Particularly, Baku announced that Azerbaijan would continue its partnership with the main UN headquarters and individual agencies in a project-based cooperation format.
The country will continue working with the UN on the Sustainable Development Agenda, as well as through partnerships with UN-Habitat, the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other UN bodies. In 2026, Azerbaijan is set to host the World Urban Forum (WUF), established by the United Nations.
In fact, Baku, did not ‘forgive’ the refusal by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to visit the village of Talish in Artsakh in 2021, despite persistent pressure from the Azerbaijani side.
Tensions with the UN Development Programme office, operating in Azerbaijan as a non-governmental organization, began after a UNDP representative declined to participate in an international conference held in Shushi on August 27, 2022. The event was dedicated to “reconstruction, rehabilitation, demining, and other urgent efforts” in the “territories liberated from occupation.”
According to the Azerbaijani side, after the 2020 war, UN agencies were instructed not to enter the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. In addition, in 2025, serious legal violations and financial irregularities were uncovered at the UNDP office in Azerbaijan. It was reported that the provided grants had not been registered in accordance with Azerbaijan’s “Law on Grants” and were thus classified as illegal funds.
Azerbaijani authorities also expressed concern about the nature of activities financed by the UNDP and their beneficiaries. Тhe UNDP had conducted financial transactions with commercial entities created by NGO members, specialists hired by those NGOs, or even their relatives. It was also emphasized that in 2023, the organization failed to provide information on 23 NGOs that received grants for a total of 29 projects.
Citing the lack of necessity and usefulness of the local office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Baku also notified the organization of its intention to close the office, which had been operating in Azerbaijan since 1992. Tensions between Azerbaijan and the ICRC began in early 2020, when an office was opened in Artsakh without Baku’s consent and Azerbaijan’s demand to shut down that representation affiliated with the ICRC’s Yerevan office, was rejected.
Azerbaijan later repeatedly claimed that the Red Cross was allegedly engaged in smuggling under the cover of its humanitarian mission and transported various goods into Artsakh via the Lachin checkpoint. Baku even initiated a criminal case, accusing ICRC employees of conducting espionage in favor of Armenia and of uncovering the operations of the Azerbaijani military.
In reality, however, it was the Azerbaijan that obstructed the humanitarian activities of the Red Cross in Artsakh, while also attempting to strip the organization of its mandate to address the issue of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages held in Baku. It should be noted that the Red Cross is the only independent international organization that regularly visited Armenians held in Baku and facilitated their communication with family members.
At the beginning of the year, following Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States, Baku notified the American side of its decision to suspend the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in its territory. Earlier, Azerbaijan’s foreign minister had stated that the American organization did not have a legal basis to operate in the country. Baku claimed that USAID was promoting its own interests in Azerbaijan. However, it did consider the possibility of restoring cooperation with the agency, on the condition that its leadership is changed and that USAID agrees to Baku’s demands: non-interference in Azerbaijan’s internal affairs, and respect for the country’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international legal norms.
In December 2024, following the crash of an Azerbaijani aircraft flying from Baku to Grozny and amid rising tensions between Moscow and Baku, Azerbaijan demanded the suspension of the activities of the Rossotrudnichestvo agency. According to official statements, similar to actions taken against Western organizations, the activities of this agency were also labeled as ‘reconnaissance-related.’ Its closure was described as a step aimed at ‘protecting national interests.’ Additionally, Azerbaijan banned in its territory Rossiya Segodnya, the media group behind the Sputnik and RIA Novosti news agencies.
Those Russian organizations, like the USAID, were also portrayed as organizations engaged in "soft power" strategies and espionage activities. However, Baku's approach toward Moscow is widely seen as an attempt to mitigate criticism over its aggressive behavior toward Western institutions.
Azerbaijan justified the closure of both Russian and Western media outlets by invoking the ‘principle of reciprocity’, asserting that only those countries whose representatives match the number of Azerbaijani personnel abroad could operate in Azerbaijan. For instance, Sputnik Russia was allowed to retain only one correspondent, given that Azerbaijan’s state news agency AzerTac has only one employee based in Moscow.
Baku announced that only those foreign offices whose home countries allow Azerbaijan to conduct financial operations in the same sectors will be permitted to receive external funding in Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani authorities' approach toward local and foreign media outlets had already been evident earlier. Despite criticism from international organizations, the situation remained unchanged. As a result, Azerbaijan was compared to North Korea, due to the extensive restrictions imposed by the Aliyev regime on its own population, civil society, and foreign institutions.
Therefore, observations that Azerbaijan is moving toward isolation appear to be well-founded. In the country, domestic life, the flow of information, financial resources, and civil processes are under tight control. All of this serves a single purpose: to prevent any attempts at regime change or revolution, whether driven by internal opposition or foreign actors, by restricting Azerbaijani society’s interaction with the outside world.