Avaz Hasanov: by eliminating experts on Karabakh the authorities help Armenians

The arrest of  the journalist Rauf Mirkadirov and ensuing requirements for NGO leaders to cease contact with Armenian colleagues , caused confusion in the Azerbaijani society. Civil society does not know how to be – to continue previous work or  to  stop it  in order to avoid danger.

 Head of the Society for Humanitarian Research Socity,  Avaz Hasanov, tried to give answer to these questions:

Question: At a joint press conference of presidents of Azerbaijan and France , foreign journalists asked about the reason for  the arrest of  the journalist  Rauf Mirkadirov  and  the persecution of the human rights activist, Leyla Yunus. The essence of the answer was that  it is an internal affair of Azerbaijan. What do you think about this?

Answer: Lately it has become a trend to believe that human rights are an internal affair of state. This was said by the President of Syria, President of Morocco, and others wanting to distort the principle of unlimited human rights specified in international conventions. They want human rights to be regarded as an internal affair of state.

I believe that human rights  is an unlimited value, and Azerbaijani legislation should be harmonized with international law, in accordance with the Convention on Human Rights which Azerbaijan joined .

Of course, our government does not want to be criticized about it. In the past 10 years, Ilham Aliyev said that as long as the  social situation of people which is an economic component of the state is not improved, the economy  is not developed, the  living standard  is nor improved, it is early to speak about human rights in Azerbaijan.

I am sure that if the government be more attentive to human rights, it would be possible to create a guaranteed  welfare state.  It is impossible to bring people to the streets  and cause massive protest in the state that provides all the rights of the people. Our population is not protected from anything: 20% of our lands were  seized, and people believe that the state violates all of its rights.

Question: The society discussed the arrest and prosecution  of R.Mirkadyrov and  L.Yunus . You know these people, you worked with them. Rauf  told from the detention facility that he  was arrested by order of Russia.

A  journalist Azer Rashidoglu, questioned on this business said there will be more arrests. L.Yunus said that the arrest of  Mirkadirov  was organized to eliminate  civil society in Azerbaijan. Can Mirkadyrov be Armenian spy?

Answer: While in prison , Mirkadyrov told through a lawyer: those who put me in jail , will answer for it before God. This means that Rauf is completely innocent.

It is difficult to find another in  journalist in Azerbaijan who would drove our opponents into a corner like Mirkadyrov, and  who is  so much read and quoted abroad.  Former Russian diplomat , a pro-Armenian political scientist Kazimirov, posted three articles per every  publication of  Rauf.

 I read "The Mirror"  only because of Mirkadirov and his articles about Karabakh. He is the only journalist who skillfully used the available literature on the subject.

I cannot say that  I  knew Mirkadirov very well. Twice I was with him at the conference. But I can say that the charges of espionage  is absurd. He was arrested because he was at the wrong time in the wrong place: living in Ankara he  criticized  Erdogan.  I read the status of a Turkish journalist tweeted that Mirkadyrov  is a sharp critic of Erdogan, and raises the dirty facts about his party.

Mirkadyrov also  sharply criticized Putin, despite the fact that the "Mirror"  is quite balanced newspaper. His last 10 articles ( "Putin and Hitler" and others) show that  Rauf  was arrested by the order of Russia.

But I wonder who he interfered in Azerbaijan. He very correctly wrote about Ilham Aliyev , never touched the ruling family , adhere to ethical standards. If this country arrested people for  criticizing Aliyev, then many people would be arrested.

Q: Probably the investigation wants to identify Mirkadirov’s links with L.Yunus that works closely with the Armenian human rights activist Laura Baghdasaryan. There were searches  in the offices of  Yunus, and her partner Matanat  Azizova.

Answer: I think his articles written by order of human rights organizations , will be put forward as evidence for the prosecution, despite  Rauf used only  open facts in his artciles.

We - human rights activists, appealed to the President with request to  punish those who have provided a rough pressure on the couple Yunus.

Question: Are the arrests of members of civil society possible?

Answer: Maybe I'm wrong, but my 20 years of experience in the Civil Society tells me that arrest of  NGO members is not possible. They put pressure on NGOs without state registration. At the time, the government passed a law on the inadmissibility of unregistered NGOs, and now wants to say that without state registration, NGOs will not work.

If you remember, when Ruslan Bashirli and members of NIDA were arrested and accused of spying,  the TV  showed for days and nights their testimony and secret video.  A month passed since the arrest of Rauf, and the authorities keep complete silence. That is, there is no evidence of his guilt.

It is possible that his analytical reports written by request of the organizers  of the project will be used as the "evidence."

Question: The arrest of Rauf was the reason for the government to require the Azerbaijani NGOs to end the relationship with their Armenian colleagues. And at the same time, the OSCE Minsk Group again put forward the principle of settlement, part of which is contacts  between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. Official Baku has adopted this plan,  then how to understand the ban on contacts with Armenians?

Answer: We do not have enough competent experts on the Karabakh issue to imprison some of these people. I do not know even mid-level experts  in the power capable of responding to the Armenians. I remember a few people representing power, which can be delegated to the forum at any level with the participation of Armenians.

Our lobbyists abroad  are populists who are not able to say more than two sentences to an international audience. So why do the authorities eliminate  such experts? Do they want to help the Armenians? -0 -