The leader of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Ali Kerimli in an interview with the Voice of America gave comments about his impending arrest messages.
‘My arrest is quite possible. For a long time, the pro-government media systematically and seriously slander me. People in my environment are rapidly arrested. Therefore, it is quite possible and even better. They arrest innocent people in order to justify my arrest. So it is better to let them arrest me immediately. If the problem is in me, I am ready. Let them fabricate any reason. Entering this path, I took into account not only my arrest, but also my murder,’ said Kerimli commenting on the messages about his impending arrest.
Asked what could be the charges, Kerimli said the government press has already announced his ‘main Gulen supporter’ in Azerbaijan. Therefore, we can assume that such an accusation could be chosen.
‘From those who have announced Faig Amirli ‘imam’ of the Gulen Community’ you can expect everything,’ he said, noting that he had always been a supporter of legal struggle and did not go beyond the law.
‘The government of Azerbaijan should understand that the arrests of Ali Karimli, Azerbaijan Popular Front Party activists and other political figures will not solve their problems. They have mistakenly ruled the country and now the socio-economic crisis has caught them by the throat, and social tensions increase. The authorities think that if social protests begin, it is best to remove those who will be able to manage these protests. They do not understand that repression will only intensify social tensions and growing discontent of the people,’ said Kerimli.
He called on the authorities to abandon this disastrous path. ‘The situation in Azerbaijan is that only national efforts can make a difference. If the government realizes this, then it will gradually step towards political and economic reforms that could lead the country out of the crisis.
If they refuse, then one day they will become victims of their own policy on the path of Hosni Mubarak and other dictators. In world history, there are no examples to nations enduring despotism forever. Every nation has its own limit of patience.
If the authorities finally block democratic changes, they will once face with the destitute and angry people, and it can cause great tragic consequences for Azerbaijan.
‘I absolutely do not want that. Our activities are aimed to save the country's potential for peaceful change, but the government wants to close the path of such a peaceful change. They want to put people in a dilemma: either to endure all the whims of the spoiled authoritarian dynastic power or rise in a social explosion. It is not difficult to imagine what might happen as a result,’ Kerimli said. -03C06--
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