Erkin Gadirli

Erkin Gadirli was born on 13 May 1972, in Baku, the capital of the Azerbaijani SSR, which was then part of the Soviet Union. His name, which was very rare in the Soviet era, was given by his grandfather.^[1] His parents divorced in 1976, and Gadirli had not contacted his father again.^[2] He received his education in Russian.^[3] In 1990, he graduated from the law faculty of Baku State University.^[4]

Gadirli worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law and International Relations of Baku State University from 1994 to 2006. At various times, he was as an expert for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, as well as in different national and international projects and working groups. In 1998, he was a member of the Azerbaijani delegation to the UN Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of the International Criminal Court in Rome, Italy. Gadirli was nominated to the Board of the Azerbaijan Lawyers Forum in 2011.^[5]

Gadirli co-founded the Republican Alternative (REAL) on 25 December 2008, as a social movement, and later as a political party.^[5] He served as the chairman of the Republican Alternative Movement until May 2014. He was relieved from his post for "contradicting the movement's basic principles and program documents." According to another board member, Natig Jafarli, he was fired for voicing several views on harsh authoritarianism. Gadirli's right to vote on the board and give interviews to the media about the party's activities was also restricted for three months. Gadirli himself stated that the decision was not "unexpected" for him, but expressed "deep concerns" over the decision.^[6]

İn October 2017, Erkin Gadirli stated that he would leave politics and return to law.^[4] Despite this, he participated in the snap Azerbaijani parliamentary elections in 2020 as an independent candidate, as the REAL Party was not registered with the Ministry of Justice. He also submitted the information on his unemployment to the Central Election Committee before the elections.^[7] He was elected a deputy from Yasamal second constituency No. 16 with a majority of 34.4% of the votes.^[8] Gadirli was criticised by the Azerbaijani opposition for accepting the mandate and getting in the parliament.^[9] He was elected as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and State Building and the Parliamentary Committee on Defense, Security and Combating Corruption.^[10] He was also elected as head of the Azerbaijan–Ireland inter-parliamentary working group,^[11] and as member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE.^[12] Since 4 August 2020, he is a member of the political committee of the Republican Alternative Party.