Azerbaijan Launches Anticorruption Hotline

The office of Azerbaijan's Prosecutor-General has launched a hotline for people to report specific instances of corruption, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.

According to the website of the Prosecutor-General's Office, the 24-hour hotline "161" has been open since 9 a.m. local time on March 2.

Eldar Sultanov, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor-General's Office, told RFE/RL that there were over 50 calls to the hotline on the first day. "We are analyzing the complaints and need more time before making the statistics public," he said.

Dozens of low-level officials have been dismissed or disciplined since new anticorruption measures were announced at an Anticorruption Commission session on January 27.

But critics say the government is combating the results of corruption without addressing the cause.

"There is corruption everywhere. The fight should be systematic. Structural reforms should be implemented. Almost all ministries have the authority to conduct inspections. But inspections should be conducted by one ministry only," said Oqtay Haqverdiyev, a former department chief at the Cabinet of Ministers.

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