CLASH BETWEEN HIGH-RANKING “ARMENIAN” AND “NAKHIJEVANI” AZERI OFFICIALS AGGRAVATES

Azg/arm
22 Dec 04

According to the reporter of Baku-basedZerkalonewspaper, Azeri
ministers born in Armenia and in Nakhijevan are likely to declare
a war against each other. The article of the Azeri reporter titled
“Ilham Aliyev Provokes Dangerous War of Ministers” was published in the
recent issue ofNezavisimaya Gazeta, thus making the hidden war public.

First of all, he reminds in the article that the political elite of
Azerbaijan is ruled by two clans, i.e. the “Armenian” clan and the
“Nakhijevan” clan. In particular, recently, when discussing the state
budget of 2005, “Nakhijevani” Ali Nagiev, labor and social security
minister, and Misir Mardanov, education minister, clashed. Earlier,
the “Armenian” Farhad Aliyev, economic development minister, clashed
with “Nakhijevani” Kamaleddin Heidarov, head of tax committee.

There have been contradictions and quarrels between the “Armenian” and
“Nakhijevani” Ministers when Heydar Aliyev was at power but “Aliyev
(senior) who originated from Armenia and was born in Nakhijevan” could
be a third side in the clashes between the clans. The newspaper noted
that both clans considered Aliyev was on their side “while Aliyev
junior is not that versatile,” the newspaper wrote.

The reporter emphasized that “Armenians” donâ~@~Yt seem to have
firm positions. The leaders of this clan are Ali Insanov, healthcare
minister, and Murtuz Alesqerov, head of the parliament. While “dark
cardinal” Ramiz Mehtiev, head of the presidentâ~@~Ys staff, is known
as the leader of the “Nakhijevani” clan. According to the newspaper,
Ilham Aliyev fails to hold control over the clash between the clans
and he advised the ministers who decided to get involved in the public
politics to resign from their state posts.

–Boundary_(ID_A6wwGh5/rcaGTXzDYXK6MA)–