Terrorist attack against Fazil Mustafa is Iran's doing - MPs' opinion

Baku/29.03.23/Turan: Terrorist act against MP Fazil Mustafa was committed by external forces and aims to undermine stability in Azerbaijan, that is the opinion of the politicians polled by Turan.

"It is an attack on freedom of speech and democracy in Azerbaijan. This is a step taken by foreign forces to undermine the stability and reforms carried out in the country," said Mashhur Mammadov, an MP from the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party.

To his thinking, after the attack on the Azerbaijani Embassy in Iran, and a number of other subversive actions, there is no doubt about other versions.

He also drew attention to the fact that the attack coincided with the celebration of Azerbaijan's State Security Service Day, the visit of the country's Foreign Minister to Israel and the opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy there. "Everyone knows that along with Armenia there is another state that is capable of provocation against Azerbaijan and openly states about it - it is Iran," Mammadov said.

Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee on Human Rights Zahid Oruj also drew attention to the commission of the terrorist attack on the day of the professional holiday of the state security bodies and on the eve of the opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel. 

The deputy was shot at with an automatic rifle with the intention to kill, this attempt has a political purpose. It is not just an attempt to eliminate a well-known personality, but to sow fear among the elite and create political censorship, Oruj believes.

Arastoon Orujlu, a former intelligence officer, said the incident was expected and Mustafa was not the only target. He said attacks on politicians are always aimed at sowing confusion and fear in society.

It is not yet clear who exactly is behind the attack, but if the target is a politician or an MP, it is a signal that no one can feel safe and it is an open message, Orujlu said.

For his part, the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan Kerimli criticised the authorities for failing to tackle real crime.

"The ruling regime specialises in suppressing the opposition and is unable to fight real crime. I hope that the government is interested in solving this crime. The government should finally do its job and state resources should be allocated to fight real crime and not to harass independents and opposition members," Ali Kerimli wrote on his facebook page. -06В-