Concerned about the activation of political emigrants, Baku again turns to the West

Baku/11.09.19/Turan: Emigrants from abroad are trying to participate actively in political processes in Azerbaijan. The amount of assistance provided to them does not allow engaging in vigorous political activity. Therefore, there is reason to believe that they are financed by "interested forces." Such vague statements made on Wednesday Deputy Prime Minister and Executive Secretary of the ruling Ani Azerbaijan party, Ali Ahmedov, at a round table entitled: "The inadmissibility of external interference in political processes in Azerbaijan." The event was organized by the pro-government party "Fatherland" with the participation of representatives of several political parties, including the opposition, except for "Musavat", REAL and PFPA. Continuing his "deep" reasoning, Ahmedov concluded that emigrants criticizing official Baku "are doomed to fall under the influence of interested special services and can easily be recruited."

Further, Ahmedov agreed to the point where foreign emissaries "monitored and directed rallies and street processions in Azerbaijan", without citing facts, without naming names and specific countries. He called on political parties to oppose strongly the "dirty" anti-Azerbaijani propaganda. The organizer of the event, the head of the Fatherland Party, Fazail Agamaly, called political emigrants anarchists, hooligans, scolding the authorities. Their goal is to destabilize the situation in the country. Panah Huseyn, the representative of the People"s Party, opposed him, saying that emigrants raise issues of corruption and human rights and democracy violations. This cannot be regarded as interference in the internal affairs of the country. The head of the "Democratic" party, Sardar Jalaloglu, spoke about the need to deter Russian influence and interference in political processes in Azerbaijan. He also condemned the steps to exacerbate civil strife in the country and called on the authorities to take steps to normalize relations with the opposition. He also blamed "certain forces in the government," who are sitting in their seats with the support of external forces and trying to influence the domestic political situation.

The representative of the "Ag" Party, Tural Abbasly, called on the authorities for a political amnesty that would allow political emigrants to return to the country. "This will eliminate the possibility of using emigration for political purposes," he said. Director of the Center for Social Research Zahid Oruj welcomed the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition and encouraged the continuation of this practice. The head of the Great Creation party, Fazil Mustafa, also called for continued dialogue and joint efforts against foreign influence. Human rights activist Novella Jafaroglu called on the authorities to release political prisoners, which will improve the country's political situation. Following the results of the discussions, a statement was adopted stating the need for joining forces to liberate Karabakh. The document also said about the support of government reforms, and the inadmissibility of "unethical information", the continuation of public dialogue was welcomed and the inadmissibility of external interference in the election process was welcomed. It should be noted that the authorities are seriously concerned about the growing influence on social opinion of social networks, which are actively used by political emigrants from Azerbaijan. They sharply criticize and expose the authorities of Azerbaijan and specific members of the government for corruption and human rights violations. The popularity of emigrant channels on Youtube and Facebook surpasses the entire propaganda machine of the authorities, seriously undermining their authority and influence. -02B03-