President accuses - opposition responds

Baku / 26.06.20 / Turan: On June 25, President Ilham Aliyev, speaking to the military, accused the government of Abulfaz Elchibey, who was the president of Azerbaijan in 1992-1993 in the surrender of the territories of the country of Armenia. According to Aliyev, the Azerbaijani lands were occupied due to the struggle of the Popular Front for power, and later in connection with the mistakes of the Elchibey government. Without mentioning the names, Aliyev called the then speaker of the parliament (Isa Gambar) and the secretary of state (Ali Karimli) deserters.

Aliyev believes that the successful development of Azerbaijan began after the coming to power of his father, former president Heydar Aliyev, and he himself continues this path. It should be noted that recently, especially after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, President Aliyev has repeatedly made harsh accusations against the opposition, especially the Popular Front of Azerbaijan and the Musavat Party. However, the leaders of these parties reject the accusations and, on the contrary, declare that it is Aliyev who unsuccessfully rules the country.

In turn, the head of the Musavat party Arif Hajili believes that Aliyev, having been the supreme commander in chief for 17 years, did nothing to free the occupied territories. He considers the allegations against the government of Elchibey unfounded. The Supreme Commander is trying to cover his own failures with periodic attacks on the governments of the Azerbaijan People’s Republic and Elchibey, said Hajili.

He noted that he personally participated in the hostilities and many members of the Popular Front volunteered for war, while Ilham Aliyev was not in Azerbaijan at that time. “A month before the occupation of Shushi, we stopped the rallies. The supporters of Mutalibov and Heydar Aliyev held campaigns daily. Some demanded the return of Mutalibov to power, others - the abolition of the age limit for participation in the presidential election ... If to look at the press of that time, it will become clear who is telling the truth ... ”, Hajili told the Azerbaijani Voice of America service.

PFPA deputy chair Seymour Khazi fending off Aliyev’s accusations that Shusha and Lachin were occupied because of an internal power struggle in Azerbaijan, noted that a member of the Popular Front Ramiz Gambarov, who died a week before the occupation of the city, commanded the Shusha self-defense battalion. After the death of Gambarov, the battalion was hastily disbanded.

Two weeks before the occupation, the Lachin Self-Defense Battalion, led by a member of the Popular Front Arif Pashayev, was disbanded. As for the occupation of Kelbajar, if this was the result of treason, then why did the commander of the defense of the region Nejmedin Sadykhov, is still the chief of the General Staff of Azerbaijan. Khazi also drew attention to the fact that after the June coup of 1993, because of which Heydar Aliyev came to power, Azerbaijan lost five districts.

“As for the accusations of desertion and cowardice, the attitude of the people best responds to this. At a time when our people are struggling with coronavirus, we don’t want to engage in inappropriate polemics,” said Khazi.“ 06D-