Leaked Zoom Meetings Reveal Homophobia Among Azerbaijan’s Opposition: “I Regret That Hitler Didn’t Exterminate The Gays”

Video’s of online meetings of the Azerbaijani opposition, the National Council of Democratic Forces, have leaked and they show homophobic attitudes, among other hostile comments.

In one of the leaked videos leading members of the coalition were talking about the importance of queer rights to their Western supporters as one member remarked that they regret “that Hitler did not exterminate the gays”.

In the video, Gultakin Hajibayli, a former MP and member of the National Council’s Coordination Centre, warned other members that “the number one priority for the West is the rights of sexual minorities, the rights of undesirables”.

As ‘OC Media’ reports, ‘Undesirable’ (uzdenirag), literally meaning someone or something it would be better not to encounter, is a derogatory term in Azerbaijan for queer people which originates from Soviet-era prison slang. Hajibayli went on to refer to US-based Azerbaijani journalist and queer rights activist Ismayil Jalilov as an “undesirable”.

Ismail Djalilov is an Azerbaijani journalist living in the United States. He is openly gay and has his own political blog on Facebook, which often criticises not only the government, but also the opposition in Azerbaijan.

Jalilov said in a comment that the situation “takes a toll on me and my husband emotionally every day”.

In a recent interview Hajibayli admitted that she used “harsh” and “rude” expressions though added that she was talking about “a specific person, not about sexual minorities”.

“I have written an apology in this regard. If someone in Azerbaijan, a member of a sexual minority or group, applied these words to themselves then this is wrong”, she said.

Jamil Hasanli, the chair of the National Council, who also was present in the meeting, posted on facebook that the video did not show the whole conversation.

“Such inadmissible expressions, especially the speech of Rafig Manafli, were strongly protested during the meeting and it was brought to his attention that such terminology was unacceptable and contradicted the principles of the National Council”.

Javid Nabiyev, an international advocacy officer at queer rights organisation the Nefes LGBT Azerbaijan Alliance condemned the remarks by Guliyev and Manafli.

“Human rights are universal, interconnected, reciprocal, and indivisible rights enjoyed by all human beings, regardless of their differences or similarities. Anyone and any institution that threatens these principles should be criticised no matter if it is from government or the opposition side”, Nabiyev stated.

“We demand that political parties and organisations not include LGBTI issues in their political games and not spread hate speech. Of course, everyone is entitled to the right to free speech and expression. However, that freedom cannot legitimise ideas that are based on and justify an ideology that has killed millions of people — Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, political prisoners, homosexuals, and others!”, he concluded.

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