Castling Ministers � No Change in Power

-Zardusht Bey, what is this intra-governmental transposition talking about?

- In essence, there is no change in power. From the fact that someone was transferred to another position, and another person was appointed in his place, nothing changes. No one can say that Ramil Usubov personally beat someone with a bat when dispersing opposition rallies. But Vilayat Eyvazov did it in his time. And will the power change from replacing R. Usubov with V. Eyvazov?

This is all empty talk. Power will remain the same. And what, with A. Nagiyev's arrival, will the professionalism of the Azerbaijani special services increase? By no means. Is a person holding a high position too long, inviolable? Of course not. The time has come, and now he is being replaced by another person. This intra-power reshuffle is not at all a sign of political change in any form.

-Some believe it is the result of an inter-clan struggle in power. Is there really some kind of clan feud in power? If so, what kind of clan won from these permutations?

-No. The clan is the same as before. Nothing changes. Here you should not look for some hidden meaning.

- They say that Moscow had a hand in these events. For they occurred immediately after the meeting of the Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramiz Mehdiyev with the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev. What do you think, is Russia really involved in the current changes?

- Those who are in power both in Azerbaijan and in Armenia, and in Georgia, occupy it only with the permission and instructions of Russia. It cannot be otherwise. On the one hand, and on the other, why should Russia need to replace V. Usubov with V. Eyvazov? Can Eyvazov do something for or to the detriment of Russia? No.

Azerbaijan is included in such a system that no independence, no freedom is possible in it. It is completely dependent on Russia - thanks to the Karabakh noose. From this point of view, I do not think that in such matters Russia gives its blessing or objects. Of course, it was probably coordinated with Russia, and it said "As you wish. If only these are faithful people."

- Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made an official visit to the United States. And all these perturbations took place on the eve of his meeting with the adviser to the President of the United States on national security, John Bolton. That is, can we say that now there is a struggle between Russia and the West for Azerbaijan?

-No. In particular, in the Karabakh issue the positions of Russia and the West coincide. The conflict is an effective mechanism for them to influence it. And it is still in the hands of Moscow. The United States is not seeking to resolve the conflict, but to intercept this control mechanism from Russia. They repeatedly tried to achieve this, but could not. Russia still owns this means of supervision and very coolly manages the processes.

And what can Mammadyarov do when he meets Bolton? Nothing. Therefore, to try to find some connection between these events means to waste time. Look: in Armenia, the democratic movement led to a change of power, and the Karabakh clan seems to be alienated from it. Has something changed? No. Because of the Karabakh problem, Armenia is also in bondage - regardless of who is in power in Yerevan.

The Karabakh noose is not so simple that Armenia or Azerbaijan can easily get rid of it. They are dependent. This control mechanism works stably, constantly. And in order to get rid of it, it is necessary to change the consciousness and views of the population. And they do not allow it. In short, with the change of personalities, nothing changes.

-You claim that these permutations do not change anything in the system. But then what was the need for them?

-They just chose more loyal and gentle people. It is unthinkable that the same person for 25 years remained in the same position. The time has come, and they have been replaced. In essence, nothing has changed.

- But among those who have been replaced, there are new people. For example, the head of the State Security Service, Madat Guliyev, was also changed.

- So, according to the results of his work, Ali Nagiyev is more suitable. That's all. There is nothing else.

- Instead of the Acting Secretary of the Security Council Ramiz Mehdiyev, R. Usubov was appointed to this post. And there was no decree on the removal of R. Mehdiyev from this post. What does it mean?

"This means that if earlier R. Usubov could give orders to about 40-50 thousand policemen, now only 5-10 people will be in his submission, carrying documents to the offices. In the end, once a month he will have to submit these documents to the President. That is, he is alienated from an important branch of power and transferred to the position of some government official.

What can we expect in the near future? What measures are planned to take? What can happen?

- Personally, I do not expect anything. As I have already said, what happened did not affect the essence of power, its domestic or foreign policy.