Azerbaijan’s Long Quest to Be Free

The Monterey County Herald

Published: Apr 3, 2010
AP Mobile

Many Americans may know my country, Azerbaijan, for its oil wealth or for
its conflict with Armenia over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Few of us
in Azerbaijan were surprised by a report that President Ilham Aliyev’s
family 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 felt the wrath. One
outspoken editor of an opposition magazine was fatally shot in March 2005.

There was a time when Azerbaijan’s future looked promising.

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 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.

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. He
wrote this for The Washington Post.