AZERI OPPOSITION BLOC URGES AUTHORITIES TO EXPLAIN “SABOTAGE”

Azadliq, Baku

24 Aug 05 p 2

Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq on 24
August headlined “The authorities must answer” and subheaded “The
Ilham Aliyev administration is using the National Security Ministry
against the democratic opposition as a means of instigation to civil
confrontation, violence and unlawfulness” and “The Azadliq bloc issues
a statement over the exposed secret operation against the PFAP”

The Azadliq [opposition electoral] bloc issued a statement yesterday
to protest against the sabotage operation against the People’s Front
of Azerbaijan Party [PFAP], which was exposed by [PFAP adviser] Ramiz
Tagiyev [reported attempt to prompt some party members to storm the
PFAP office]. The authors of the statement described this incident
as a continuing act of sabotage against the Azadliq bloc in general
and the PFAP and its chairman Ali Karimli in particular.

The statement says that the authorities, which are concerned about the
demands of the Azerbaijani public and the international community for
a free and fair election, want to use force in political processes,
crack down on their political opponents by means of illegal methods
and prevent expected democratic changes in the country.

“The fact that the authorities have used force against the peaceful
protests of the Azadliq bloc in regions in recent months, that the
National Security Ministry has organized an act of sabotage against
the PFAP and its leader Ali Karimli over the case of Ruslan Basirli
[who is accused of alleged cooperation with the Armenian special
services] and that specially trained groups have attacked the PFAP
headquarters shows that the incumbent authorities fear the decisiveness
of the democratic opposition to win the election and prevent another
election fraud and are trying to disrupt the forthcoming election in
such ways. As a sequel to all this, the National Security Ministry’s
statements about Ramiz Tagiyev’s involvement in the organization of the
attack on the PFAP expose the very nature of the authorities’ policy
and prove once again that the power structures are actually used as
a means of struggle against the opposition,” the statement says.

Referring to Tagiyev’s statements, the statement recalls that employees
of the National Security Ministry met Tagiyev via the chairman of the
Hope Party, Iqbal Agazada, and suggested that he should storm the
PFAP headquarters with the help of specially trained groups, seize
the building and evict party members from there. After the seizure
of the party headquarters, it was planned to set up a temporary
administrative council of the party led by Tagiyev.

The Azadliq bloc states with anxiety that the incident illustrates
that the authorities are trying not to compete with their rivals
in a civilized manner, but to resort to illegal ways to destroy and
crash them.

“This shows once again that instead of protecting Azerbaijan’s
national security and state interests, the National Security
Ministry is actually used by the [Azerbaijani President] Ilham
Aliyev administration against the democratic opposition as a means of
instigation to civil confrontation, violence and unlawfulness in the
country. The Azadliq bloc says that the authorities are trying to use
authoritarian methods to prevent democratic processes in the country,
create artificial tension and fear in society and hold people at bay
through blackmail and crackdown because they do not intend to fulfil
their international commitments to hold a democratic election. The
authorities must give the people of Azerbaijan an explanation about
the incident since it is directed not only against the PFAP, but also
against the Azadliq bloc and democratic processes,” the statement says.