As one of the urgent issues of the society, a wide-ranging public discussion was held regarding marriages between relatives with the participation of state institutions, MPs, civil society institutions, specialists in the field and media representatives.

The discussion, which took place on March 12, 2024, was jointly organized by the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, the Center for Social Research and "Khalq" newspaper, and was moderated by Mr. Aziz Alibeyli, the head of the Media and Communication Department of STM.

Ms. Bahar Muradova, the chairperon of the State Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs, welcomed everyone and noted that the public discussion was dedicated to an important and urgent issue.

Emphasizing that the family is the nucleus of the society and the state, the chairperson said that traditions are always preferred in the topic discussed about Azerbaijan.

She added that the environment and attitudes in the family are later transferred to the society, and noted that in order to achieve the set goals, these issues should be discussed seriously and should be put in the background as obstacles to our lives.

Stating that marriage between close relatives is prohibited by Article 12 of the Family Code, the Chairperson of the Committee added: "In order to achieve the main goals of the state's policy in this direction, we have to look at the our legislation, the mechanisms of implementation of these laws, the activities of the state bodies that implement them, and the public's participation and position in this matter and explore ways to eliminate them."

The chairperson added that the mentioned issue is related to the activities of the Committee and at the same time noted that each of the relevant state bodies has its own obligations and duties in this direction. She noted that the Committee has started the process of coordinated discussion of these issues for a long time. Ms. B. Muradova noted the importance of directing the society's capabilities to the solution of this issue and taking into account its position when taking the next steps.

Emphasizing that the issue is under the government's attention, the chairperson said that the Family Code was amended in 2015 and that everyone undergoes a medical examination before marriage, and that this step has brought great results. She reminded the Education Rule the Cabinet of Ministers of on the negative consequences of early marriage and marriage between relatives, and said that the application of this rule has yielded certain results. Ms. B.Muradova said that the State Committee collects information on the activities of all state bodies in this regard and submits it to the National Assembly once a year. Highlighting the figures of the last two years, the chairperson said that studies were conducted on the order of the Committee based on those results. In the end, the Chairperson of the Committee, voicing his thoughts in the direction of eliminating the issue, noted that the main issue is to make appropriate changes to the legislation, and imposing bans on the fourth term can give certain results.

Mr. Zahid Oruj, the head of the Social Research Center noted that about 20% of the world's population prefers consanguineous marriages due to its social benefits, and it mostly occurs in societies with closed economies, high levels of illiteracy and lack of information.

Later, Mr. Aflatun Amashov the editor-in-chief of "Khalq" newspaper noted that the legislation should be tightened to prevent marriages of close relatives. According to him, if a survey is conducted among those who participated in the hearing, it turns out that up to 50 percent of people have married relatives in their family.

Mr. Rustam Gasimov, head of the Legislation Development Sector of the Legislative and Legal Policy Department of the Presidential Administration emphasized that the family is an indicator of the health of society and the state as a whole, and noted that this is both a strategic problem, a problem of society, and a problem at the individual level.

Mr. Araz Poladov, head of the Legislation Development Sector of the Legislative and Legal Policy Department of the Presidential Administration noted that there are certain factors that harm family values, as well as the health of society and individuals. One of them is the marriages between relatives. This is our ancient tradition. We must respect customs and traditions, we must develop them, but at the same time we must be able to refuse customs based on false stereotypes.

Ms. Taliya Ibrahimova, head of the Legal Security Department of the State Committee, said that a survey was conducted among 1,354 respondents in order to study the attitude towards marriages between relatives.

Mr. Fazil Mustafa, a member of National Assembly drew attention to the fact that in Azerbaijan there is not only the problem of relative marriage, but also the problem of regional marriage. Young people are told that you cannot marry someone from outside this village, settlement, or district. This is among the issues that concern us.

Ms. Malahat Ibrahimgizi, Ms. Sevil Mikayilova and Ms. Jala Ahmadova, expressing their opinion on the subject, emphasized that the main line for preventing the negative effects of marriage between relatives is education and propaganda.

Ms. Aynur Sofiyeva, deputy chairperson of the State Committee pointed out that with the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated June 23, 2020, No. 213, on "Awareness rule on the negative consequences of early marriage and marriage between relatives with the aim of protecting and strengthening and  the importance of family and marriage among young people" has been approved.

Later, there was an exchange of views on the topic. Opinions of civil society institutions, medical specialists, lawyers and experts were heard.