Azerbaijan and the participation of national minorities in public affairs in the light of the control mechanism of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the challenges of the future

Abstract

Azerbaijan is a country inhabited by numerous national minorities and which officially promotes the policy of “Azerbaijani multiculturalism”. Being a party to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Republic of Azerbaijan must meet certain standards of minority protection and is subject to monitoring, which shows, inter alia, that the state does not seem to create conditions necessary for the effective participation of persons belonging to national minorities in public affairs, especially those affecting them. The main assumption of this work is therefore to determine and assess the state of ensuring the participation of national minorities in public affairs by Azerbaijan. Documents related to the monitoring system of the Framework Convention will be mostly analyzed — thus they will be depicted on the example of Azerbaijan. Taking up the issue in question also seems to be of great practical value in the context of the ongoing dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh and emerging fears about the fate of the Armenians inhabiting that region.