Vice-Speaker of PACE: Azerbaijan - Victim of Russian Policy

Vladimir Aryev, head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE and PACE Vice President in an interview with Nastoyaschee Vremya criticized the policy of Azerbaijan.

Asked how he assesses the anti-Ukrainian campaign in the government media in Azerbaijan, Aryev said that Azerbaijan is a "victim of Russian politics, as well as Armenia." Russia is using the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, pushing the two countries against each other. Russian troops in Armenia are a guarantee that Azerbaijan will not take back Nagorno-Karabakh.

Therefore, the leadership of both countries is totally dependent on the Kremlin today. "They are, by and large, puppets. The host pits the two people together for his own purposes. "Putin is advantageous to keep the Caucasus on its toes and to control the situation, quarreling all together,” said the deputy.

"So I'm not really surprised by the behavior of President Ilham Aliyev. This behavior is not of a national leader, but the behavior of a vassal before the suzerain. And in this situation, I can say one thing: what happens to the human rights in Azerbaijan is a terrible thing: the persecution of journalists, firing people just for their “likes” on social networks. And there was the dispersal of the demonstration in Yerevan. It's what the Russian World makes in other countries," said Aryev.

Until Azerbaijan begins to carry out its own policies and starts to move in the direction of democratic values, it will always be in the zone of influence of Russia. "Russia will push it around like a third-rate state, even though the country may be the richest in the region," said the head of the Ukrainian delegation. -02D-