WILL THE U.S. STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY IN AZERBAIJAN?
by Ali Karimli
The Washington Post
April 2, 2010 Friday
Many Americans may know my country, Azerbaijan, for its oil wealth or
for its conflict with Armenia over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh.
A March 5 article in The Post portrayed a nation whose ruling family
appears to own $75 million worth of luxury villas in Dubai. Few of
us in Azerbaijan were surprised by a report that President Ilham
Aliyev’s family apparently invests assets abroad. What else should
be expected from a leader who inherited power from his father through
fraudulent elections?
Aliyev’s brutal crackdown on the opposition and independent media began
with his election in October 2003. Thousands of Azeris protesting
the transfer of power — more succession than an election — were
arrested and beaten. As opposition supporters languished in jail,
then-deputy U.S. Secretary of State Richard Armitage phoned Aliyev
to congratulate him on his "landslide" victory. Democratic voices of
protest were stifled by the blows of police batons. Western powers were
eager to work with a new leader they viewed as young and progressive.
Nearly two years later, on the eve of the 2005 parliamentary elections,
Azeri democrats inspired by the support Western nations had given
to the Rose and Orange democratic revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine
decided to again challenge Aliyev’s authoritarian regime.
Events unfortunately played out along now-familiar lines: The
government falsified election results; opposition protests were
crushed; yet Washington praised the work of Azerbaijan’s Constitutional
Court, which had just approved false election results.
Aliyev apparently interpreted the international community’s silence
as carte blanche to turn a country with long-standing democratic
traditions into a fiefdom. The government evicted major opposition
parties from their centrally located headquarters. Independent media
also felt the wrath. One outspoken editor of an opposition magazine
was fatally shot in March 2005; several others received harsh prison
sentences on trumped-up charges.
There was a time when Azerbaijan’s future looked promising. In the
1980s, Azerbaijan was at the forefront of the democratic movements
that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1992, we held our
first democratic elections. Abulfaz Elchibey, leader of the Popular
Front, won 59 percent of the vote. Elchibey viewed himself as a
political heir to the founders of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
in 1918. Azerbaijan was the first nation in the Muslim world to
establish a parliamentary democracy that granted universal suffrage,
preceding many Western countries.
But these days, the only vote that counts is that of Ilham Aliyev.
After "winning" his second presidential term last year, in an election
with no viable opposition alternative, Aliyev and his rubber-stamp
parliament conspired to change the constitution, through a referendum,
to lift term limits on the presidency.
The next parliamentary elections are to be held in November. The
democratic opposition is once again preparing to challenge the regime.
While there are no indications that the government’s behavior will
differ from that of years past, we have decided to participate in
the election process because we recognize that this is our chance to
fight for our ideals.
Our platform is simple: We intend to establish a functional democracy
in our country. Azerbaijan has a resourceful populace, and we can
and must decrease our nation’s dependence on oil. We must break the
economic monopolies controlled by corrupt officials. Our goal is
to establish a free, market-based economy. We want Azerbaijan to
integrate into the Euro-Atlantic community of nations, ending its
status as a satellite of autocratic Russia.
As we continue our struggle for freedom, it is vital that the United
States pursue appropriate action with regard to the largest nation
in the South Caucasus. Bilateral relations have long been based on
cooperation on energy, security and democratic development. Sadly,
many Azeris see U.S. policy as driven by energy interests and the
global war against terrorism. To us, it seems that democracy gets
short shrift. We hope the Obama administration will make clear to
Azerbaijan’s leader that democratic reforms and human rights are a
priority in U.S.-Azeri relations.
American policymakers should have learned from countries in the Middle
East and other areas that authoritarian, corrupt regimes do not make
reliable allies. Nor is their "stability" based on the consent of
the governed. The democratic opposition in Azerbaijan does not seek
intervention or financial assistance from the United States. What we
need is the moral support of an America that stands by its own values.
Ali Karimli is chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan and
co-founder of Azadlig (Freedom) Political Bloc of Opposition Parties.