Opposition disagrees with I. Aliyev's statement on democracy in Azerbaijan

Baku / 22.09.20 / Turan: Azerbaijan is a stable, modern and democratic state, President Ilham Aliyev said in a video address on September 21 to participants in a meeting dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the UN. The development of democracy and human rights are among the main priorities of the Azerbaijani government, he said. “All fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, media, assembly, religion and the development of civil society, are fully ensured. Several months ago, we put forward the initiative for a political dialogue. All major parties supported this initiative. This successfully launched dialogue will strengthen our political system and serve the sustainable development of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.

However, these statements of his were perceived negatively by the opposition and human rights activists. Thus, the head of the Musavat party, Arif Hajili, said that there is no society in Azerbaijan described by Aliyev. “What kind of respect for freedom of assembly can we speak if pickets, demonstrations, rallies are prohibited even in one stadium? There are no more opposition newspapers left, journalists are thrown into jail, critics of the authorities are not allowed on TV,” Hajili told Turan. According to him, more than 200 political prisoners languish in the country's prisons, including politicians, journalists and believers. All elections in recent years have been rigged. Aliyev distorts well-known facts and is only engaged in self-deception, he said. “An attempt to present the cooperation of some parties with the authorities as a dialogue is a deviation from a real dialogue,” Hajili said.

Anar Mammadli, head of the Election Monitoring Center and Democracy, also disagrees that democracy and human rights are among the government's priorities. According to him, in the field of respect for human rights, Azerbaijan is among the outsiders of the Council of Europe. Violations of fundamental freedoms are reflected in the findings of the OSCE / ODIHR observation mission at the last parliamentary elections in February 2020. Prior to that, a special resolution on political prisoners in Azerbaijan was adopted at the January 2020 PACE session. In addition, international human rights organizations - Freedom House, Amnesty International, periodically point to the difficult human rights situation in Azerbaijan. In Mammadli's opinion, the authorities simply imitate the appearance of a dialogue with the opposition. He believes that the political environment in the country must change. "The Azerbaijani authorities should listen to local structures, independent voices, consider the recommendations of international organizations," Mammadli said.

Rufat Safarov, executive director of the "Lines of Defense" organization, also believes that Aliyev's statements do not reflect the real picture. So, the already limited freedom of assembly in a pandemic was completely banned. In addition, people are being prosecuted on trumped-up charges for their political and religious views. Politically motivated charges are also brought against representatives of civil society, human rights activists who refuse to work under the dictation of the authorities. Safarov believes that dialogue is impossible without the participation of opposition structures - the National Council, the Popular Front Party, the Movement for Democracy and Welfare, the Musavat Party and the Party of Law and Justice.

The deputy chair of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (Popular Front Party) Seymur Hazi believes that, claiming the existence of democracy in the country, Aliyev is trying to disavow his own statements full of hatred against the opposition, which he made in the spring and summer of this year.-03B06-