Membership in the Azerbaijan Writers’ Union has been suspended.
Elchi.az reports that Khayal Rza, the press secretary of the Azerbaijan Writers’ Union, stated this in an interview with modern.az.
“Currently, membership acceptance has been suspended since the end of last year. However, the documents of those who applied earlier are being reviewed. There are those who have been rejected and those who have been accepted. The admission committee’s work has been suspended until the AYB congress to be held in 2027. The reason is the large number of applications. Those who do not pay membership fees may be expelled from the Union in accordance with the regulations, but the organization has always taken a humane stance on this issue,” said the AYB spokesperson.
He added that the AYB currently has more than 2,500 members: “An annual membership fee of 15 manats has been set for one member. Information about the amount collected from membership fees for any period is available in the finance department. It is not within my authority to report on this. There were those who had not paid their annual membership fees since the 1990s. I cannot disclose it, but it was a huge amount of money. All debts up to 2020 were forgiven. 5 years have passed, and there are still those who have not paid. Those who do not pay 15 manats do not respect the organization’s charter. A final decision will be made on February 1 regarding those who have not paid. A deadline has been given until then.”
Khayal Rza also responded to criticisms about the presence of deceased individuals among those who have not paid membership fees: “If a writer on our list dies, they remain registered as a ‘deceased member’ forever. As for our records of the deceased, their family members must inform us. How would we know who died when? For example, Amin Avey died in Germany in 2020 during the pandemic. His name remaining on the list was due to a technical error.”
In conclusion, he noted that no increase in the amount of membership fees is expected in the Union.