| Ilham Aliyev gets rid of his entourage Yesterday in Baku, a general cleansing in the inner circle of the country's President Ilham Aliyev continued for the second day. On Tuesday, Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev and his brother, President of the Azpetrol company Rafik Aliyev, as well as former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Nijat Guliyev were arrested. Yesterday, three more ministers were removed from their posts and taken into custody - health Ali Insanov, labor and social protection Ali Nagiyev and education Misir Mardanov. Presidential Administrator Akif Muradverdiev was dismissed. By yesterday evening, there was no information about his detention, nor, indeed, an official explanation of the reasons for the resignations and arrests of such high-ranking officials.
It is obvious, however, that the unprecedented personnel purge in the president’s inner circle is related to the failed arrival in Baku on Monday of ex-speaker of parliament Rasul Guliyev, a long-time political opponent of the ruling clan of the late President Heydar Aliyev in the country. All dismissed and arrested ministers, as well as ex-ministers, will apparently be accused of “preparation for unrest and the violent seizure and retention of power.” This is precisely the wording that is present in the criminal case opened yesterday by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan against Farhad Aliyev. The authorities call Rasul Guliyev the leader of the conspiracy, who “gave instructions” to the ex-minister “to prepare a coup.”
If you believe the Azerbaijani special services, the plans of the conspirators became known to them thanks to the testimony of former Finance Minister Fikret Yusifov, who was detained on October 16, on the eve of Mr. Guliyev’s expected arrival in Baku. Yusifov admitted that on October 3 in Berlin he met with Guliyev and received from him “specific tasks” for Farhad Aliyev to finance the coup. Already on October 15, in Baku, Farhad Aliyev personally handed Yusifov 100 thousand euros, which he was supposed to “distribute among the groups involved in organizing the riots” on October 17. But, as stated in a statement released yesterday by the Azerbaijani special services, “the ex-speaker (Rasul Guliyev - Ed. ), who was closely following the events in Baku, realized that his plans for a coup had failed and abandoned his intention to fly to Baku.”
President Ilham Aliyev called Rasul Guliyev “a criminal, one of the leaders of the international mafia, whose actions are known not only in Azerbaijan, but also in other countries.” This is so far the only statement by the Azerbaijani leader made during these days of crisis for the country. It is noteworthy that Mr. Aliyev made this statement to the American media, which needed comments on the turbulent events in Baku from the head of state himself.
Let us note that yesterday, US Deputy Secretary of State Daniel Fried, who was in Baku, expressed “concern about a number of steps the Azerbaijani government has taken this week.” They "call into question the holding of free and fair parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan," a senior US diplomat said.
Following the publication of this statement, Mr. Fried was received by the President of Azerbaijan. After the conversation, the Deputy Secretary of State, noting that “the United States is closely monitoring the process of changing ministers in Azerbaijan,” spoke more diplomatically. “I cannot yet assess this process, since it is necessary to first have accurate information and see how the new appointments correspond to the reform direction,” Mr. Fried said. “So far there are no assessments or thoughts on what is happening...”
As for Rasul Guliyev himself, yesterday a court in Simferopol released him from custody. The court decision put an end to the international scandal into which Ukraine allowed itself to be drawn by arresting a dissident well-known in the West. Rasul Guliyev claims that the Azerbaijani authorities did not give permission for the charter plane to land in Baku, on board of which he, his two nephews and two other British citizens were on board.
Official Baku refutes this information, pointing out that, on the contrary, the authorities were interested in the arrival of the ex-speaker in order to immediately arrest him. That is why, according to Baku, the request for the search and extradition of Guliyev was urgently renewed through Interpol.
Perhaps the “orange” Ukrainian authorities would have expelled the Azerbaijani oppositionist to his homeland, if not for the noisy international outcry. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees was immediately informed of his detention. On Wednesday, the United States announced that it would provide political asylum to Guliyev. The Azerbaijani opposition bloc Azadlik called on the Ukrainian authorities to refrain from being drawn into a situation artificially created by the authorities, which could damage the democratic image of the country. And on October 20, his ally, head of the Musavat party Isa Gambar, with whom President Yushchenko signed an agreement on political cooperation back in 2003, when he himself was the leader of the opposition party “Our Ukraine,” flew to Ukraine to negotiate the release of Guliyev from custody. .
Apparently, in order not to make a decision at the executive level, which would touch a nerve in Azerbaijan, it was decided to transfer the scandal to the judicial plane. Yesterday, Channel 5 of Ukrainian television reported that representatives of the Azerbaijani authorities were unable to convince the Ukrainian court that the case against Guliyev is not political, and also to provide evidence of his corrupt actions. Most of the documents sent from Baku allegedly turned out to be photocopies, not even certified by signatures.
Rasul Guliyev flew from Simferopol to Kyiv yesterday. Before this, answering questions from journalists, he called himself the “detonator” of events in Azerbaijan. Arkady DUBNOV, Svetlana STEPANENKO, Kyiv |
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