"Democracy summit" to develop its stand on authoritarian rulers - J.Hasanli

Baku/09.11.21/Turan: Azerbaijan and Turkey were not invited to attend the virtual democracy summit to be held on December 9-10 initiated by U.S. President Joe Biden.

In so doing, Armenia and Georgia were on the list of invitees published by "Politico" magazine on November 3.

Biden announced about the first "summit for democracy" back in August. Delegations from more than a hundred countries - leaders of states and governments, representatives of civil society and the private sector - are expected to attend the summit.

Its participants are likely to discuss commitments and initiatives to combat authoritarianism, corruption and promote democracy.

How do you assess Azerbaijan's not being invited to the Democracy Summit?  MP Aydin Mirzazadeh, a member of the parliamentary committee on defense, security and anti-corruption, told Turan that no country can be perceived as a regulator of democracy. "Democracy is a universal value, and every society chooses it itself," the MP said.

"Today, if any country holds an event on democracy and invites someone, it is a manifestation of its desire. However, one may wonder why 20 years of American democracy lessons in Afghanistan ended so sadly," Mirzazadeh continued.

U.S.-Azerbaijani relations are varied not focusing on one direction or one issue. "Baku and Washington hold political consultations, high-ranking representatives of the U.S. administration come to Azerbaijan, U.S. leaders usually send congratulations on Azerbaijan's national holidays. The deputy believes there is a great potential for further expansion and deepening of these relations.

Jamil Hasanli, chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces, for his part, believes that the reason for not inviting Azerbaijan to attend the Democracy Summit should be sought in Ilham Aliyev's policies. "When he came to power in 2003, Azerbaijan was a semi-free country, and his authoritarian rule made Azerbaijan one of the non-free countries," Hasanli said.

Not inviting Ilham Aliyev to the summit came as no surprise. "Why should a President who appoints his wife as First Vice President be at a democracy summit?"   It would be a mockery of democracy to invite a President whose family has $700 million worth of assets in London alone.

Added to this can be the fraud in elections, widespread corruption, kleptocracy, political prisoners, stifling of freedom of speech and press, destruction of civil society, repressions against political opponents, the lack of independent judiciary system, the use of pandemics to suppress political freedoms, "- said the opposition politician.

At the same time, he considers as wrong the allegation of Azerbaijan's diminished importance for the U.S. politics.

"After the summit the demands of democracy will come to the foreground, pushing aside the energy interests. It is very likely that the upcoming summit will demonstrate an unequivocal position against authoritarian and dictatorial rulers," Hasanli noted.-06D-