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"ARAB WAVE" CAN SWALLOW UP AZERBAIJAN
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 8, 2011
Oil is oil, but Aliev Jr. must understand that life does not end
there and the international community will soon be bored with turning
a blind eye to the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan.
The "Arab wave" is gradually approaching the South Caucasus,
specifically Azerbaijan. Everything is going on a tested course that
did not become an alert for little and great dictators: blocking
of certain segments of the Internet, arrests of some human rights
defenders and activists. Let us also add to this the 42 years of rule
of the Aliyev clan with some interruptions, corruption, poverty of
the vast majority, and we'll get the same situation as in Tunisia,
Egypt or Libya.
The Aliyev clan has been ruling Azerbaijan since 1969. And it
never matters that Heydar Aliyev was then the first secretary of
the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, and now his son, Ilham is the
"popularly elected" president. Everything remains as it was, except
that the capital of the clan has grown to astronomical size recently,
and now Aliyev Jr. believes he can dictate his terms not only to
Armenia, or say, Georgia and Turkey, but also to the international
community. Defectiveness and fallaciousness of this policy became
clear also to the USA and its embassy in Baku issued a statement
in connection with the detention of and physical pressure on young
activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.
"U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza and the U.S. embassy
closely follow the report on detention of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev in Gandja
on March 4, specifically, the reports about his insult and deprivation
of legal aid. We urge the Azerbaijani government to respect the rule
of law, conduct a relevant process, as well as under the Azerbaijani
legislation ensure all the rights of Mr. Hajiyev as a defendant,
including the right to legal aid and medical aid, if needed," reads
the March 7 statement of the U.S. embassy in Baku.
Currently, in order to obtain information about the case against
Hajiyev and his detention the embassy maintains contact with relevant
structures of the Government of Azerbaijan.
"We shall also closely follow the cases against other young activists
arrested recently," the statement reads.
Three young activists were detained over the last month.
Jabbar Savalan was arrested Feb. 5 on charges of illegal possession of
drugs. Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, arrested on March 4, is accused of draft
dodging. On March 4, Dayanat Babayev was sentenced to 11 days of
administrative arrest on charges of violation of the public order.
However, the local democratic public believes all the three have been
detained on political grounds.
Apparently, Baku is reluctant to admit that a revolution, or rather
a revolt, is possible also in "tall-walking Azerbaijan". The totally
corrupt state built on lies is capable of only sabre rattling and
calls for war. And it is clear that neither the members of the Aliyev
family, nor his entourage will fight in case a war breaks out.
Moreover, the second Karabakh war, like the first one, will be
disgracefully lost, in spite of the huge weapon purchases, or, rather,
because of it. A great number of weapons in an unhappy country may
turn against the authorities, as it happened in Libya.
There is one more factor that makes a revolution possible in
Azerbaijan - the religious issue. Not once has it been mentioned that
Iran is said to be involved in the Arab unrests through the HAMAS
and Hezbollah. Azerbaijan could become a valuable gain to Tehran,
as it is the only Turkic-speaking country professing the Shiite
branch of Islam, unlike the Arabs, who are followers of Sunnah. Let
us note that some ayatollahs have issued a fatwa on inadmissibility
of the ban on wearing hijab in Azerbaijan. In short, if there begin
disorders in Azerbaijan, it'll be no news. Just on the contrary,
it'll be an anticipated event. Despite the upbeat statements of
politicians and journalists in Azerbaijan, which, by the way,
are forced and obligatory, the situation in this country is not so
good. Oil is oil, but Aliev Jr. must understand that life does not
end there and the international community will soon be bored with
turning a blind eye to the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan. However,
there is no guarantee that after the riots there will be established
a democratic state; at least 200 years is necessary for it. But in
any case, the time has come for redistribution of oil revenues and
it is what the Azerbaijani president does not seem to realize.
From: A. Papazian
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 8, 2011
Oil is oil, but Aliev Jr. must understand that life does not end
there and the international community will soon be bored with turning
a blind eye to the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan.
The "Arab wave" is gradually approaching the South Caucasus,
specifically Azerbaijan. Everything is going on a tested course that
did not become an alert for little and great dictators: blocking
of certain segments of the Internet, arrests of some human rights
defenders and activists. Let us also add to this the 42 years of rule
of the Aliyev clan with some interruptions, corruption, poverty of
the vast majority, and we'll get the same situation as in Tunisia,
Egypt or Libya.
The Aliyev clan has been ruling Azerbaijan since 1969. And it
never matters that Heydar Aliyev was then the first secretary of
the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, and now his son, Ilham is the
"popularly elected" president. Everything remains as it was, except
that the capital of the clan has grown to astronomical size recently,
and now Aliyev Jr. believes he can dictate his terms not only to
Armenia, or say, Georgia and Turkey, but also to the international
community. Defectiveness and fallaciousness of this policy became
clear also to the USA and its embassy in Baku issued a statement
in connection with the detention of and physical pressure on young
activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.
"U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza and the U.S. embassy
closely follow the report on detention of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev in Gandja
on March 4, specifically, the reports about his insult and deprivation
of legal aid. We urge the Azerbaijani government to respect the rule
of law, conduct a relevant process, as well as under the Azerbaijani
legislation ensure all the rights of Mr. Hajiyev as a defendant,
including the right to legal aid and medical aid, if needed," reads
the March 7 statement of the U.S. embassy in Baku.
Currently, in order to obtain information about the case against
Hajiyev and his detention the embassy maintains contact with relevant
structures of the Government of Azerbaijan.
"We shall also closely follow the cases against other young activists
arrested recently," the statement reads.
Three young activists were detained over the last month.
Jabbar Savalan was arrested Feb. 5 on charges of illegal possession of
drugs. Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, arrested on March 4, is accused of draft
dodging. On March 4, Dayanat Babayev was sentenced to 11 days of
administrative arrest on charges of violation of the public order.
However, the local democratic public believes all the three have been
detained on political grounds.
Apparently, Baku is reluctant to admit that a revolution, or rather
a revolt, is possible also in "tall-walking Azerbaijan". The totally
corrupt state built on lies is capable of only sabre rattling and
calls for war. And it is clear that neither the members of the Aliyev
family, nor his entourage will fight in case a war breaks out.
Moreover, the second Karabakh war, like the first one, will be
disgracefully lost, in spite of the huge weapon purchases, or, rather,
because of it. A great number of weapons in an unhappy country may
turn against the authorities, as it happened in Libya.
There is one more factor that makes a revolution possible in
Azerbaijan - the religious issue. Not once has it been mentioned that
Iran is said to be involved in the Arab unrests through the HAMAS
and Hezbollah. Azerbaijan could become a valuable gain to Tehran,
as it is the only Turkic-speaking country professing the Shiite
branch of Islam, unlike the Arabs, who are followers of Sunnah. Let
us note that some ayatollahs have issued a fatwa on inadmissibility
of the ban on wearing hijab in Azerbaijan. In short, if there begin
disorders in Azerbaijan, it'll be no news. Just on the contrary,
it'll be an anticipated event. Despite the upbeat statements of
politicians and journalists in Azerbaijan, which, by the way,
are forced and obligatory, the situation in this country is not so
good. Oil is oil, but Aliev Jr. must understand that life does not
end there and the international community will soon be bored with
turning a blind eye to the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan. However,
there is no guarantee that after the riots there will be established
a democratic state; at least 200 years is necessary for it. But in
any case, the time has come for redistribution of oil revenues and
it is what the Azerbaijani president does not seem to realize.
From: A. Papazian