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National Television and Radio Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan decided to stop the broadcasting of the Turkish «FOX TV» in the country on February 22, because the journalist of the TV channel mockingly presented the news of the first lady Mehriban Aliyeva’s appointment as first vice president, website of the opposition newspaper Azadliq informs.

According to the information, after the «FOX TV» program, a heated discussion burst out in the Azerbaijani segment of social media hinting that the appointment turned Azerbaijan into a laughingstock not only in the international arena, but also in “brotherly” Turkey.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party and the main opposition Republican People's Party (Hurriyet) also criticized the first lady’s appointment.

Justice and Development Party member Burhan Kuzu stated that “such a nepotism is unethical.”
“It turns out that if the president goes abroad, he will hand the country’s governance to his wife,” he said emphasizing that it is not acceptable.

In his turn, Hurriyet’s vice-chairman Bulent Tezcan stated that in this way, the president “can calmly hand the power to his son in the near future.” Hurriyet faction’s vice-chairman Engin Altay stated that the same measures are also possible in Turkey, when the country shifts to presidential system of government.

Meanwhile, analytical portal EurasiaNet writes that president Ilham Aliyev’s February 21 announcement that from now on his wife Mehriban Aliyeva will be the country’s first vice-president elicited a good deal of mockery, including the inevitable comparisons to the plotline of the TV series House of Cards. But beyond the jokes, the move appears to be the result of a deadly serious tussle for power and influence within the ruling regime. While intra-government cleavages have existed since Aliyev succeeded his father in 2003, these tensions have intensified in recent years amid an economic crisis and a substantial drop in Azerbaijan’s energy revenues.

According to the article, Aliyev first announced the plans to introduce the posts of multiple vice presidents last summer and they were duly approved in a referendum in September.

The first took place in March 2015, days after Azerbaijan sharply devalued its currency. Jahangir Hajiyev, the long-time head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest, was sacked and accused of misappropriating many billions of dollars. Hajiyev was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Then, in October 2015, the Interior Ministry moved in on the National Security Ministry (the former KGB), eventually arresting nearly all of its senior officials and putting its head Eldar Mahmudov, Hajiyev’s in-law, under house arrest. The MNS was eventually disbanded altogether and replaced by two agencies, one for domestic surveillance and another for foreign espionage.

Hajiyev and Mahmudov were two key officials seen as loyal to what is known as the “Pashayev clan” within the regime that includes vast business holdings of the president, the first lady (Pashayeva is her maiden name) and the ruling family’s children. The crackdowns were construed as attacks by the “Nakhichevan clan,” which includes officials and businessmen who have been in their positions of influence since the times of Heydar Aliyev and whose direct loyalty to Ilham Aliyev is suspect.

Shortly after the constitutional changes were made public, the news site Haqqin.az, which often serves as a de facto organ of the presidential administration and part of the Nakhichevan clan, published a list of officials likely to fill the new posts.

While Mehriban Aliyeva was the only candidate for first vice president, five individuals were named as likely secondary vice-presidents, including Ramiz Mekhdiyev, the chief of the presidential administration; Baylar Eyyubov, the chief of presidential security; Vasif Talibov, head of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic; Kamaleddin Heydarov, minister of emergency situations; and Ramil Usubov, the interior minister. All five belong to the Nakhichevan clan.

The list – which quickly disappeared from the site – suggested that the Nakhichevan clan was acquiescing in a move to shore up the “Pashayev clan,” as long as the leading members were also shown due respect.
“In the 13 years of his presidency Ilham Aliyev has not risked ousting these individuals, even as he grew increasingly distant to his relatives. His sister, Sevil Aliyeva, lives in London and is known to visit Baku only when her sister-in-law was out of town. In early 2016, Ilham Aliyev did not attend his uncle Jalal Aliyev’s funeral. In the meantime, amid the decline in oil revenue, arguably Ilham Aliyev’s main source of legitimacy, his own appointees have come under attack from the ‘Nakhichevan clan’ figures,” EurasiaNet writes.
On February 22, Haqqin.az reported that Talibov would become the second vice-president, suggesting that the compromise arrangement between the clans has extended to the vice-presidencies.