BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 4
By Samir Ali - Trend:
Discussion of Azerbaijan’s internal issues in other countries and the international arena clearly demonstrates the insincerity of the forces that pretend to be national patriots, Editor-in-Chief of Azerbaijan’s Baki Khabar newspaper, political expert Aydin Guliyev told Trend.
Guliyev said that discussions by Azerbaijan’s radical politicians about their country from the perspective of a foreigner, condemning it, when double standards have become almost the norm of behavior for some countries, and democratic values - methods of interference and pressure on others, is harmful and unacceptable.
“The accusatory speech by Jamil Hasanli at a meeting of an organization called the National Press Club in Washington and a demonstration of a political position that isn’t different from the position of Daniel Balson, the representative of Amnesty International, who is undoubtedly influenced by the Armenian lobby, is a vivid example,” Guliyev said.
“We see how democratic norms actually turned into a cover, how they are violated, when certain interests require it, how human rights are used in relation to individual countries on the basis of double standards by states and international organizations that criticize human rights and democracy in Azerbaijan,” Guliyev added.
“The calls of organizations such as the so-called Azerbaijan’s National Council to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan don’t correspond to any notions of patriotism and cannot cause serious political results,” the editor-in-chief said. “Such calls once again prove that this “organization” isn’t an influential political force. Because radical circles cannot receive the support of the Azerbaijani people, they want to achieve their political goals by illegitimate interference and pressure from external forces.”
“To say that there is no freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, that there is total pressure on civil society, make the suppressing of attempts to hold rallies in illegal places look like police brutality is a biased position and an attempt to create conditions for illegal interference of external forces in the internal affairs of the state,” the expert said.
Guliyev noted that all Azerbaijan’s internal political problems and issues should be discussed and resolved within the country, according to internal legislation and opportunities created by the national-spiritual model.
“To seek an alternative to this in various countries isn’t patriotic and is unacceptable for the Azerbaijani people,” Guliyev said. “The purpose of such calls of the so-called National Council is to create instability in the country, according to plans of external forces. The people know very well, based on the experience of several foreign countries, that such plans are impossible and don’t correspond to national interests.”
“The calls for sanctions against Azerbaijan from abroad actually prove that these political groups don’t think about the interests of the people,” Guliyev added. “The fact that the leadership of the so-called National Council doesn’t see that the sanctions have turned into methods of pressure that have lost their influence, once again demonstrates that they haven’t freed themselves from 20-30 year-old political thinking.”