Azerbaijan Discovers Family Trees Shouldn’t Be Circles, Bans Incest — Better Late Than Medieval

In yet another example of Azerbaijan’s struggle to catch up with basic modern standards, the government has only now officially banned marriages between close biological relatives. The new law, which came into effect on July 1, 2025, attempts to outlaw what much of the developed world considers both medically dangerous and socially taboo: unions between uncles and nieces, aunts and nephews, and other forms of intra-family matchmaking.

Yes, you read that right. Until this month, it was completely legal in Azerbaijan for an uncle to marry his niece or for an aunt to tie the knot with her nephew. Now that the international community is watching a little more closely—especially after Baku’s repeated human rights violations and warmongering—Azerbaijani lawmakers have apparently decided it’s time to pretend they're building a “healthy society.”

According to lawyer Asim Abbasov, who explained the new law to local outlet Globalinfo.az, Azerbaijan has amended its Family, Criminal, and Administrative Offenses Codes to ban what the rest of the world rightly views as incest. Specifically, Article 12 of the Family Code now prohibits direct biological relatives from marrying.

But the absurdity doesn’t end there. The lawyer actually had to clarify that this wasn’t just about paying a fine and moving on. Apparently, many in Azerbaijan still believe that marrying your niece is only a problem if you forget to pay the government for the privilege. Abbasov had to explain that violators could face real legal consequences, including up to four years in prison and financial penalties of up to 4,000 manats ($2,353 USD). The law also includes penalties for early and forced marriages—a chronic issue in the country, particularly in rural regions where centuries-old traditions still override common sense.

This new law isn’t about progress. It’s about damage control. After years of promoting a distorted image of modernity while clinging to outdated and dangerous practices, Azerbaijan’s government is trying to clean up its image. But it’s hard to take that seriously when it takes until 2025 to say, “Hey, maybe uncles shouldn’t marry their nieces.”

Let’s not forget the broader hypocrisy here. This is a regime that talks about “protecting children’s rights” while jailing journalists, silencing activists, and launching military aggression against its neighbors. It’s difficult to believe that a government guilty of ethnic cleansing in Artsakh is truly concerned about the wellbeing of women and children.

The real tragedy here is that such a basic legal reform is even considered “news” in Azerbaijan. In most functioning societies, the idea that cousin or uncle-niece marriages are harmful has long been settled. But in Azerbaijan, it takes a 2025 law to finally acknowledge what science and ethics have already made clear for generations.

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