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About the Service

Operating from Prague, Radio Azadliq relies on user-generated content and social media for reporting that audiences trust. 

Azadliq was the first media outlet to report Azerbaijan’s independence in 1991. 

Its investigative reporting on public corruption, political prisoners, and electoral fraud is widely cited by international media. 

Provides cross-border reporting on the Armenia-Azerbaijani conflict with in-depth analysis. 

Digital content includes reels, video explainers, data visualization projects and exclusive court reporting series. 

Produces a popular political cartoon series. 

Reaching Audiences

Media Climate

Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Azerbaijan 164th out of 180 countries.  

Radio Azadliq has come under significant pressure as the media situation declines due to new legislative and administrative restrictions. 

Radio Azadliq was banned from broadcasting on FM frequencies in 2009. The Service’s Baku bureau was raided and shut down in 2014 and later had its website blocked in 2017. 

Former bureau chief Khadija Ismayilova was arrested and jailed for 18 months in 2014. 

Azerbaijani law enforcement targeted Service freelancers with Pegasus spyware in 2021. 

Journalist Aytan Mammadova was physically attacked and threatened at knifepoint in 2022 for covering criminal investigations. 

Media Center

Latest Updates

A map of the countries where NSO spyware was used to potentially target activists, politicians, and journalists. The text reads that, "Compared to other European countries, Hungary regulates more loosely who and how the country's national security services can monitor."

RFE/RL Outraged By Pegasus Project Revelations Involving Azerbaijani Service Journalists

RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly expressed outrage at revelations that the smartphones of RFE/RL journalists may have been targeted for infection with the Pegasus spyware application.

Azerbaijani journalist Khadija İsmayilova (15 January 2019)

RFE/RL Condemns Latest Azerbaijan Ruling Against Ismayilova

An August 7 ruling by the Azerbaijani Supreme Court upholds baseless charges of tax evasion against journalist Khadija Ismayilova, blatantly ignoring Azerbaijani law and the government’s international treaty obligations, including…

Khadija Ismayilova, in Baku

September 2019 “10 Most Urgent” List Includes former RFE/RL Journalist Khadija Ismayilova

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a member of the One Free Press Coalition, a group of 36 prominent media organizations from around the world committed to using their collective muscle…

Service Director

Ilkin Mammadov

Ilkin Mammadov is the Service Director of RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, known locally as Radio Azadliq. Having joined RFE/RL in 2004, he has reported on major news events and played a leading role in launching several of the service’s signature programs on radio, TV, and the internet. Previously, he worked for Internews-Network and several local TV stations in Baku. Mammadov holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Baku State University. 

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