Aliyev Changes Staff: What’s Happening in Azerbaijan?

The Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has suddenly changed his staff and 6 assistants. Fuad Aleskerov has been appointed as assistant for military affairs and law enforcement agencies. Aliyev’s nervousness is evidence to his stalemate due to his policy and geopolitical developments. Azerbaijan’s central bank has declared default, Azerbaijan has appeared amid a scandal in OSCE where an investigation is underway into the case of bribing PACE members by Azerbaijani officials. Besides, Azerbaijan has appeared amid another scandal. The Georgian president has called to investigate the abduction of the Azerbaijani journalist in Georgia and illegal border crossing. Georgians are protesting against the actions of the Azerbaijani special services. The so-called Peace Platform has failed which Azerbaijan tried to conceal its destructive stance in the talks on Karabakh. The OSCE Minsk Group has bluntly blamed Azerbaijan for ceasefire breaches. The foreign ministry of Armenia has called for applying sanctions on Azerbaijan. Aliyev is worried and is taking incomprehensible steps. The Armenian military say the Azerbaijani army is inventing targets, hitting them and then reporting hitting Armenian positions. Yesterday the International Crisis Group published a report on the Karabakh settlement which highlights the dissatisfaction of Azerbaijan with Aliyev’s policy. It is said that some circles in Azerbaijan demand implementation of the militaristic “triumphant” intentions Aliyev has been speaking about for many years. There is an opinion that Aliyev has hardly been able to suppress pressure.