PFCP Chairman Ali Karimli Denied Passport by Ministry of Internal Affairs

Ali Karimli

Ali Karimli, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), has announced that he was refused an ordinary (citizen) passport after applying for the document.

Mr. Karimli reported that he applied for an expedited passport service at an ASAN Service center on October 8, paying the required fee to receive the passport within one day. He was informed that the document would be ready the next day. However, when he returned to collect it, he was told that the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Main Department of Passport Registration and Migration had not authorized the issuance of his passport. His payment was subsequently refunded. No explanation was provided for the refusal.

“The passport was ready. After a few phone calls, the female employee informed me that I was being denied the issuance of a passport. When I asked for the reason for the refusal, she apparently turned to another woman who held a higher position. That woman told me that the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Main Department of Passport Registration and Migration does not permit the issuance of a passport to me. There was no explanation given for the refusal. Then they returned the service fee they had collected from me yesterday.”

Mr. Karimli stated that this restriction prevents him from participating in international events and noted that he has been barred from foreign travel for nearly 20 years. He described the latest refusal as politically motivated, claiming that such a decision could only be made under the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev.

“Regarding my inability to obtain a passport, the Prosecutor General’s Office has not responded to my appeal to Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev, which I submitted a month ago. It seems they have nothing to say and no answer to give. Of course, I will also appeal to the relevant main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, both you and I know that the decision to deny me a passport for 20 years and to ban my foreign travel can only be made by Ilham Aliyev himself. Apparently, this is what justice and competition look like in the Aliyev style,” wrote Ali Karimli.

The refusal follows Mr. Karimli’s earlier announcement that he was unable to attend the Warsaw Security Forum on September 2 and the Democracy Forum in Athens in early October because he lacked a valid passport. He had appealed to Prosecutor General Kamran Aliyev about this issue about a month earlier but received no reply.

Historically, authorities have cited an open criminal case dating back to 1994—which involved allegations that explosives were found in his possession—as the reason for denying him a passport since 2006. The European Court of Human Rights has previously ruled that this restriction was unlawful.