Type Political movement Area served Azerbaijan | Location Baku, Azerbaijan | |
Founded January 2009; 8 years ago (2009-01) Focus Human rights,
Free and democratic elections,
Free media,
High quality education and medicine,
Strong military Method Non-violent protests,
Educational activities and debates | ||
The Republican Alternative Movement (Azerbaijani: Respublikaçı Alternativ Hərəkatı), commonly referred to as REAL Movement or simply REAL, is an Azerbaijani political movement founded in January 2009 by a few young people to achieve democratic and social changes in Azerbaijan. Currently it has more than 500 members comprising mainly young individuals as well as well-known politicians and activists. The head of the movement Ilgar Mammadov was arrested before the presidential elections in 2013 and still is in jail as of February 2016.
According to the official page of the organization, the main reason for the establishment of the movement was the lifting presidential re-election limit which was part of a package of reforms backed by President Ilham Aliyev in the Azerbaijani constitutional referendum on 18 March 2009. REAL Movement considers that this constitutional change damaged the republican values of the country and now the higher goal is to re-establish the republic.