Political Scientist: "Sanctions Will End on Samad Seyidov"

Baku/18.05.18/Turan: Azerbaijan has once again become the focus of attention throughout Europe. And, unfortunately, it was not due to any economic or scientific achievements. The head of the country's representation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Samad Seyidov turned out to be on everyone"s lips after the investigation of a corruption scandal in the PACE.

As a result of the investigation, the PACE Committee adopted sanctions against Seyidov, Agramunt, Preda and Huclu in connection with allegations of corruption. As a result of the sanctions, the Azerbaijani MP will not be able to participate in election monitoring, be a rapporteur in the PACE, be elected chairman of the committees and subcommittees, represent PACE in events or forward inquiries to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Despite the fact that the news about the application of sanctions appeared the day before yesterday, Seyidov himself reacted to it a day later. The deputy denied all accusations regarding him and said the sanctions imposed on him are of no importance. In addition, he added that sanctions are a manifestation of the double standards of the West. The deputy told about the details of the interrogation in the PACE: "They pressed on us, said we should confess that we are doing other things here, and then our name will not be listed, and they will not apply sanctions. Naturally, we did not admit this, because it was not true. It is from this that their goals become clear. They had preconceived intentions, which they put into practice."

Is it possible to take PACE sanctions against Samad Seyidov as the beginning of sanctions against the leadership of the country as a whole and what will Azerbaijan respond to Western sanctions?

According to the political scientist Hikmet Hajizadeh, the events surrounding Samad Seyidov are the beginning of Western sanctions against the country's leadership: "The process has started, as Gorbachev said. Europe is serious about the matters of corruption, bribery and "caviar diplomacy". The process will intensify, and it is intensified all over the world in all directions, not only towards Azerbaijan. Here you can recall the recent scandal with FIFA and decisions on offshore. This is a world anti-corruption process that cannot be stopped, because the societies of democratic countries require their governments to be transparent not only in domestic but also in foreign policy," the political scientist said. He believes that sanctions, including financial ones, will intensify and take various forms. Azerbaijan, in turn, will start threatening to withdraw from the Council of Europe.

"The authorities will threaten a rupture of diplomatic and economic ties with the Council of Europe. "We do not need such a European cooperation," they will say. However, the threats of their actions will not work. I cannot say with certainty whether Azerbaijan will implement its threats, but if this happens, it will be a tragedy for the country, both in the Karabakh issue and in other issues," Hajizadeh stressed.

The political scientist Zardusht Alizadeh is sure the events around Seyidov are not the beginning of sanctions against Azerbaijan.

"This is a general operation against Seyidov and other deputies suspected of corruption. This ends on them. Samad Seyidov says he will fight for something to return his good name. However, I do not understand how you can fight against PACE. The decision is made, so will they again give a bribe so that the decision is recalled? I think that everything will remain the same, both inside the country and outside it. Everyone knows the high-profile corruption scandals associated with Azerbaijan both in the implementation of major projects and in the elections to the Milli Majlis. There have even been trials. However, this did not affect the situation, since bribery has already turned into national thinking," he said.

According to the political scientist, the sanctions against the deputy will not affect Azerbaijan's relations with the Council of Europe.

"Neither Azerbaijan will leave the organization, nor will the CE exclude Azerbaijan. Europeans are not interested in this, because the country pays membership fees and implements large joint projects. In general, there will be no sanctions against Azerbaijan, since it is obedient. Only Russia does not listen to the West, therefore various forms of pressure are used against it. Azerbaijan does everything the West likes: it does not touch Armenia and it supplies oil and gas to Western countries, etc. We should forget about sanctions," Zardusht Alizadeh summarized.-0--