Not secret things about the secret

-Mr. Nahid, recently much is spoken about secret organizations or illegal self-organization; and your name is mentioned this connection. What's happening? Are these conversations really good? Do you want to do this?

- Although this is the subject of discussions, but very often the subject itself is taken out of context and presented to society in a distorted form. Yes, we argue that in order to combat the authoritarian regime, at the first stage the names of the members of the organization should be kept secret. Because such regimes practically forbid legal self-organization and in various ways closed all the ways of its implementation. If we trace the history of the political struggle of Mamed Emin Rasulzade and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, we can see that at the initial stage, before forming a balance between the forces, they acted illegally. We very much regret that while the authorities are fighting against the mechanism of illegal self-organization without the hype (repeated cyber-attacks on our site, the arrest of the persons drawing the symbol of the Hourglass, demanding to hide it from the public, etc.), some the leaders of the opposition organizations, while fighting us more mercilessly, try to present this form of self-organization as secret, and sometimes as a terrorist organization.

- Do you think that something can be obtained in this way?

- Of course it is possible! But the answer to this question requires addressing important conceptual issues. We think that people do not join the fight because they are afraid of the police, they are afraid of arrest, torture and other kinds of pressure. On the other hand, one of the main reasons that reinforces these fears is that people feel lonely. We believe that in order to eliminate these two problems, we can secretly organize ourselves in various ways to send each other messages that we are not alone. To this end, we chose the "Hourglass" as the single symbol, and appealed to people to draw it in prominent places from afar, telling others to organize themselves. In addition, we believe that democracy requires collective behavior. If we as a people cannot show solidarity by drawing a single symbol, then it will be very difficult for us to take riskier steps. In Azerbaijan, there is no longer such an area where you will not find the "Hourglass". We are sure that with growing the number of this symbol, the political consciousness of people will grow and develop.After seeing seen this symbol in various places, a person far from politics will think about it, and will find himself surrounded by our ideas. And then he will feel more confident.

- Who enters your organization?

- Membership in this organization automatically creates self-organization of the society. We propose the following: if you want to join the "Wake up!" Movement, then create a small (of 3 people) team of people you trust most, and start making decisions together; answer our calls not as a single man, but as a group of 3 people. This also contributes to the formation of new leaders from the social environment. For this purpose, on its official website, the "Wake up!" Movement provides people with an appropriate membership form.

- "They're still interesting in your past." Some people do not take you seriously. Someone calls you an agent, a spy. But, despite this, you have been continuing your activity for quite some time. Do you have something to prove them wrong?

-To tell the I'm not trying to prove something. I am more intellectual person, than a politician. There was a time when the entire intelligentsia was subjected to insults, slander and persecution. Such nuances, not only do not tire me, but, on the contrary, give strength to the struggle. They show deep roots of problems in society, and that people are judged not by their ideas, but by their personality. It is very difficult to build democracy with people endowed with this consciousness. Just emigrants know my past as a consul of Azerbaijan in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. People see not the truth, but what they want to see.

- One of the co-founders of the "Wake up!" Movement first stated that he had left the movement, and then declared that he did not want his name be mentioned in connection with this Movement. What is the reason? What are they afraid of?

- This is democracy. Someone leaves the organization, new members come with new ideas. The one who left, openly expressed his opinion and indicated the reason for leaving. It's just that we have some people who have not seen the resignation either in the government or in the opposition, and that is why they react so inadequately to this. As the "Wake up!" Movement, we adhere to the principles of democracy in our behavior.

- Argues within the opposition or those who fight against the authorities continues. Some start verbal duels, and accuse each other of something. In in these cases your name is mentioned, tell me, can you achieve something like this?

- The opposition is a force that must organize the people. If it has not yet been able to achieve this, then the problem should be sought precisely here. Authoritarian regimes are a consequence of the disorganization of the people. I think that in Azerbaijan the authorities create opposition leaders without coordination with these people. In my opinion, in order to become a leader, a person must have an idea or strategy related to the future or the exit from the current state. It is this idea and strategy that make him the leader. Those can become leaders who have effective idea, when the people support them. Otherwise, this process does not work. None of the strategies proposed by the current political leaders is effective. The people do not support these ideas. The question is, how do these people turn into leaders? And this imitation is created by the authorities. Personally, I believe that by organizing a show against these individuals, organizing pickets in front of their homes, insulting the leaders of political parties that have a negative reputation in society, etc., the authorities turn them into leaders. We must find out all this and cut this knot. We do not need to be afraid to ask some questions. First, why do the authorities, knowing that such shows bring dividends to the leaders of political parties, still do all this? Second, why do presidential candidates' debates serve to popularize one person? Thirdly, why do political prisoners get testimony only for a single person, and this person is not arrested? And, how can it be that the authorities administering society through fear openly admit that they are afraid of a certain person, and at the same time give that permission to hold a rally?

- Actually, is it possible, to settle abroad and positioning as an oppositionist, to correct the situation in the country?

- People must improve the situation in the country. And the role of parties or movements is to convince the people, organize, unite it and coordinate the processes. Acting as a political party or movement only in the country, it is impossible to change the authoritarian regimes that control power structures. Those who are trying to do this are either in custody or under the gravestone. However, in history there used to be many political leaders who controlled political processes while abroad. We attract professionals who graduated from the world's most famous higher education institutions. We believe in this, and we are fighting because we believe.