Azerbaijan, Baku, May 24 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
Azerbaijan's independent policy is based on the determination of people and national interests, Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration's Social and Political Department Ali Hasanov said.
He made the remarks at a workshop on "Role of youth in country's social and political life", organized by the Youth Association of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party and the public association for assistance in the intellectual development of young people.
Hasanov called the reasons of overlapping some countries' interests in Azerbaijan.
"While extracting resources in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan is selling them to foreign countries," he said. "It also transports Kazakh and Turkmen oil through the Caspian Sea and supplies it abroad, being a transit country. Azerbaijan receives an average of $1 billion in profits as a result of this transit. Some countries oppose us by acting against Azerbaijan, to carry out the transit themselves," he underscored.
Hasanov went on to say that some several countries intend to place their troops in Azerbaijan.
"So we ask them - will these intentions help to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem? Will the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan be secured, and its violation prevented in the future? They say they do not interfere in these issues. Then why should we offer our territory to some country for placing its troops here? Some countries say the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is insufficient. Why? Because they want to carry out the transit themselves," he said.
According to Hasanov, some countries want the situation of 1991-1993 to return to Azerbaijan, when the rallies were held, roads were being blocked, and shops were being robbed.
"They want this kind of society. Why do they say that the democracy in Azerbaijan doesn't suit them? Because we demand responsible democracy. We say that there must be a balance of human rights. The rights of one person begin where the other one's rights end. The balance is a resource of governance in the hands of authorities. A rally must take place where the human rights of citizens are not violated during recreation. Individual will of one person should not be above a desire of another person," Hasanov noted.