The West’s Azerbaijan Paradox

Western governments face a strategic contradiction in Azerbaijan: they seek deeper ties with President Ilham Aliyev’s authoritarian government while pro-Western democrats remain imprisoned. Human rights leverage – including conditional partnerships and targeted sanctions – is essential not only on humanitarian grounds, but to secure a stable, democratic and genuinely Euro-Atlantic future for Azerbaijan and its people. The immediate priority should be the release of opposition leader Ali Karimli and other political prisoners.