Ali Insanov: I Cannot Be Intimidated

Baku / 03.05.19 / Turan: Former Health Minister Ali Insanov, after a 14-year prison sentence, gave an interview to the Azerbaijani service of The Voice of America.

He announced plans to create a new political party and criticized the internal and external policy of the current authorities.

"Let me express my gratitude to all Azerbaijanis who, during my long imprisonment, gave me moral support and made efforts for my release," Insanov said.

He thanked the leaders and activists of political parties, journalists, human rights activists, and colleagues in the country and abroad. Insanov said he did not move away from politics, and intends to create a new political structure.

Having made a brief excursion into history, he recalled that decades after Churchill"s Fulton speech, the Cold War ended with the collapse of the USSR communist empire.

"However, unfortunately, after that, new dictatorships began to be created in a number of republics of the former USSR, and this has been going on for almost 30 years. One of them is Azerbaijan. At present, we are fighting against this dictatorial regime, where the level of freedom is close to zero," said Insanov.

"After I was released, people are constantly on duty in 4-5 cars around my house. They accompany me during all movements and even to the cemetery. In fact, I'm under house arrest. People visiting me are under pressure, threatened by the police and prosecutors. All this is aimed at restricting my rights and opportunities to communicate with people," said Insanov.

Nevertheless, he is determined to continue the fight. Condemning the authorities' bans on peaceful rallies of the National Council of Democratic Forces, Insanov said that nothing can break the people's determination to defend their rights.

"In the near future, we must create a political structure and begin to act. The aim of our struggle is the accession of human rights in Azerbaijan, the restoration of justice, the release of political prisoners, etc.," Insanov continued.

"Our political structure will be oppositional, pro-Western. I embarked on this path, realizing all the possible consequences, but I cannot be intimidated," he continued.

Insanov said he was ready to cooperate with all opposition political forces, including the National Council of Democratic Forces. "We will create our own organization, and then we will collectively act together," the ex-minister said.

The policy of the authorities has led to the fact that Azerbaijan today has become one of the most corrupt states in the world. "Ilham Aliyev has been in power for 16 years, but he has never been invited to the White House in Washington. This is an indicator of the depressed state in which Azerbaijan"s foreign policy is," he said.

To prevent international criticism for violating human rights, Baku spent $ 3 billion bribing Europeans. All this has damaged the image not only of the President, but of the whole country. Due to election fraud, the suppression of freedoms, power has lost the trust of the people.

Touching upon his vision of the Karabakh conflict, Insanov said that two issues should be resolved here. "We need to build in Azerbaijan such an open democratic society so that Armenians - our citizens in Karabakh would be interested in remaining within Azerbaijan. Armenians have a saying "Bread where - stay there"," said Insanov.

In his opinion, it is necessary to put an end to militant rhetoric. "Two people are innocent that the conflict has reached such severity. We must go to reconciliation. The problem can only be resolved peacefully.

Therefore, it is necessary to present Azerbaijan as a reliable partner. International structures do not trust Azerbaijan in resolving the Karabakh issue," said Insanov.

The only way for Azerbaijan is integration into the Euro-Atlantic space. "If we live within the borders of Europe, the European Union, get into this geography, we will be able to ensure the sovereignty and security of Azerbaijan. It is necessary. If Ilham Aliyev announces a referendum that leads Azerbaijan to Europe, I will support him," said Insanov.

Insanov tried to reject the allegations that being a minister, he himself was committed to regionalism and is now considered the leader of immigrants from Armenia.

"I didn"t hide that I was born in Armenia. No one should hide their origin. However, there were not only people from Armenia around. I raised about 50 scientists and only 5-6 of them came from Armenia. I have always kept talented people with me. Regionalism is a disease," he said.

* Ali Insanov was arrested in October 2005 on charges of attempting a coup d'etat. However, he was subsequently convicted to 11 years in prison for economic crimes. In 2016, he was charged with new charges of drug possession in prison and beating a warder, and was sentenced to another 7 years in prison.

* The European Court of Human Rights ruled on the unlawfulness of his arrest, but the authorities did not release Insanov. In March 2019, he was pardoned by the President of Azerbaijan. -06D--