The political agenda is changing

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- What is going on? Do you think that what is happening with social activists, bloggers is a coincidence?

- There is nothing new and special in what is happening now. Similar events in Azerbaijan occur when the internal socio-political situation is aggravated or the need arises to change the political agenda. The bloody crimes committed against the servicemen of the Terter garrison in 2017-2018, after the 44-day war, began to occupy a special place in public opinion and on the country's agenda. This is quite natural. Because before the Second Karabakh War, the "Terter affair" did not cause such a harsh reaction, since the attitude of the people to the army was different than today. Today the Azerbaijani army is victorious and this has radically changed the attitude of society towards it. As a man who has been investigating the "Terter case" for a long time, I can say with full confidence that as the details of this bloody crime are disclosed, the public response to it will grow exponentially. The overwhelming majority of the highest state and army officials, whose names appear in these crimes, are still in office today. On the other hand, the authorities fear that as internal political conflicts are revealed, social and political tensions will grow, and the situation may come out. For this reason, it became necessary to divert public attention from these events and direct them in a different direction. Therefore, in a significant part of society, questions of this type arise that cause reactions, discussions and disputes in order to divert attention from serious events taking place in the country.

- Who, in your opinion, is doing this? Does someone want to confuse the political situation by putting pressure on public activists and bloggers?

- The political situation is already complicated, and it seems that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to prevent it. So it is logical that all this meets, first of all, the interests of the authorities, perhaps the main goal, as I said, is to “let off steam” of society. The methods you have listed are already tried and tested methods that are aimed at changing the country's agenda.  I do not think that if there were such issues, the serious crisis in the country could be left in the shadows, because the two problems I mentioned above (the "Terter affair" and the internal political struggle) are only two of the many reasons that make up systemic crisis.

The picture ends when added to the socio-economic situation created by the pandemic, the rapid depletion of the government's credit of trust in the 44-day war, and growing corruption and lawlessness. The authorities are not taking any steps to solve at least one of these problems, which means that a crisis will be inevitable.

- If those who do this are not in power, then how should they prove it to society?

- I have already said that, in all likelihood, they were in power, and if not, then the culprits should have been found and identified.

- Mohammed Mirzali was generally attacked in the country where he lives, in France. Similar incidents have occurred against him more than once. Once he was shot from a pistol. Why was not his safety ensured? It turns out that there is no safe place for those who criticize the Azerbaijani authorities and those represented in the authorities?

- Your questions are quite specific, and there must be facts to answer them. If there were such facts, then at least police surveillance should have been organized. Why it was not done, I cannot say. As for the last crime, it remains to await the results of the preliminary investigation. The second, third, and even the fifth party can participate in such issues. In any case, the investigation is conducted not by Azerbaijan, but by the French police, on whose impartiality one can rely. The intolerant attitude of the Azerbaijani authorities to criticism and its inadequate reaction is not a secret to anyone. Unfortunately, on this occasion, there are dozens of facts of violence and crimes against people, none of which has yet been disclosed.

- There is a problem among the events. Ata Abdullayev, who introduced himself as a video blogger, was arrested. Do you think that his arrest may have something distantly related to what is happening with other social activists and bloggers? It should be noted that his last interlocutor on the day of the YAP Congress was the former head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev.

- In my opinion, this should also be viewed as an integral part of the overall process, although I do not exclude one specific detail in this issue - the role of the internal political struggle. The attacks on Ramiz Mehdiyev are based on technologies developed and applied under his leadership, but this time it all came down to the street level, and the reaction was inevitable. The reaction, of course, was a message to those who promoted it. It also signals the transition of the internal struggle into a new phase - the phase of arrests and other tougher steps.

- What is happening has reached dangerous limits. What steps should be taken to avoid this?

- Unfortunately, there are no recipes for a short-term effect to get out of this situation that, because there is a lag in all areas. It is quite serious; every lost day also works against the country. Since the crisis covers all areas, reforms must also be multifaceted and thorough. However, it seems that this will not happen, and the main problem is that there is no political will to remove the causes of the current situation. The way out of the crisis requires this in the first place. If the country does not immediately restore the rule of law, if the representatives of the state and authorities do not change their attitude towards the people, if urgent steps are not taken to restore the mechanisms of institutional governance, then there will be no result. More exactly, there will be a result,  but it will be impossible to call it a gratifying result.