Azerbaijan�s Opposition Leader in Washington to Explain Political Situation

Baku/21.10.17/Turan: Jamil Hasanli, the leader of Azerbaijan's opposition National Council, said ongoing crackdown against opposition politicians and activists in the country has reached to level of a wider authoritarian virus, infecting the entire region, and Washington"s hands-on approach is necessary to stop this crisis "before it get too late."

"The Aliyev regime of Azerbaijan is successfully exporting its hostile crackdown and its corruption to other countries, such as Georgia and Ukraine," Hasanli said during his meetings with the U.S. government officials this week, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

​The National Counci's leaders visited the U.S. capital to discuss the current state of play in Azerbaijan.

The trip came just days after the arrest in Ukraine of an Azerbaijani opposition journalist Fikret Huseynli, on the basis of an Interpol alert that was requested by Azerbaijan"s government. Huseynli​ is ​​currently ​​a Dutch citizen, and he had been trying to set up a bureau of Turan TV, an Azeri expatriate TV channel based in Europe.

Fikret became the second Azeri journalist living in exile to be targeted in a neighboring country on Baku's request in the past few months, Hasanli said. Another journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, was abducted in Georgia in May, and taken back to Azerbaijan.

"These are clear - albeit the only latest - examples of how Azerbaijani government can successfully undermine western values not only back at home via its propaganda machine and hostile policies, but also in the wider region through government channels and other international tolls such as Interpol and other institutions" Hasanli said.

While in Washington, Hasanli met with policymakers and officials both in the Administration and on the Capital Hill.

He urged the U.S. to impose targeted sanctions against leading human rights violators in the Azerbaijan government, including the highest-level cabinet members.

​"​I ​ am here not to ask for any aid or material support from the U.S. government to bring a change to Azerbaijan - it is our fight and [is] only in the hands of Azerbaijani people - but all I am saying is the U.S., as well as other western allies, should not betray [their] own values in speaking up for greater human rights and democracy when it comes to Azerbaijan," Hasanli told Turan's Washington correspondent.

Over the past month, the National Council held two rallies in Baku under the slogan "End corruption, free political prisoners!".

Its next rally is scheduled for October 28th.

A.Raufoglu

Washington, D.C.