Axis Globe: An interview with Isa Gambar, Azerbaijan Presidential Candidate prior to Sunday's election. He speaks of Iran among other topics.
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* Ilham Aliyev's main opponent concedes secret police agents' presence in opposition leadership
* After being defeated in Georgia and Ukraine, Moscow strives for revenge in Azerbaijan
* Youth from Azerbaijan undertakes not just religious studies in Iran
* Turkey gave up influence in the Caucasus
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| Isa Gambar |
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November 6 is the date of the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. These elections provoke a great interest of the regional and world powers, taking in account the geopolitical location of this South Caucasian republic, and its huge oil resources. At the same time, against the background of "velvet revolutions" in the former USSR, the confrontation between the Azerbaijani regime and opposition reached its apogee.
Main forces of the authorities' opponents are grouping around Azadliq bloc. The two most prominent figures in its leadership are the principal leaders of the opposition. The elder one, Isa Gambar, is in politics since the end of the 1980s. He participated in many fateful and dramatic events in the history of independent Azerbaijan. For a certain period of time Gambar even was the acting President of the republic. Three days before the elections, he agreed to be interviewed by the AIA.
Contrary to the Western common practice of presenting the questions in advance, Gambar did not even asked what we were going to talk about. Regardless of this fact, he answered every question without hesitation, got his ideas across, avoiding repetitions and insignificant phrases. His interlocutor immediately gets a feeling that it's an experienced and cautious politician, who thoroughly weights each of his words. Strange as it may seem, this does not make his speech a banal repetition of learned truths. When pronounced by politician of such a scale, many things that are already known sound in original and even provocative manner…
Evidence for lack of democracy
Mr. Gambar, do you agree with the US Ambassador in Baku, who said on October 27 that the democratic conditions had been created in Azerbaijan for the parliamentary elections?
Everything in this world is relative. Had the directives of Ilham Aliyev been real, had they been executed, then one could have hoped for the democratic elections in Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani authorities do not have political will for holding of free and fair elections. They plan to falsify the results of the vote.
Does it mean that the US representative in Azerbaijan is not on top of issues? Or do you accuse him of hypocrisy and falsification of facts?
The USA Ambassador tries to convince the Azerbaijani authorities to hold normal elections, encouraging them to do it by making such statements.
But still unsuccessfully…
The final answer to this question could be given only after the elections.
Please name five of the most clamant examples, when, in the course of the election campaign, the authorities crudely violated democratic principles.
First: the democratic law is the first necessity of the normal elections. There are too many problems in the electoral code of laws in Azerbaijan. The main problem is that the members of the ruling party prevail in all electoral commissions. They also head all electoral commissions without exception. This happens regardless of our demands of parity between the authorities and the opposition, when forming the electoral commissions. In spite of the fact that different international organizations, including the European Council, supported this demand, the authorities did not agree to fulfill it.
Second: the authorities do not let the democratic forces to hold rallies and marches in the center of Baku, as well as in many regions of the country. By this the freedom of assembly – one of the basic human rights - is being violated.
Third: there are too many errors in the voting list. Often these are the intentional errors. In September, our Azadliq (the largest alliance of the opposition parties) bloc held a special campaign named "Where is my name". We called people to come to the polling stations, and to make sure that their name is registered in the voting lists. This campaign gave certain positive results. However, there are still plenty of defects and problems in these lists.
Fourth: inequality of time and place distribution for the election agitation in electronic and printed mass media. The authorities have a huge advantage in this sphere. Of course, according to the law, the opposition parties dispose of a certain broadcast time in the framework of the election campaign. However, compared to what the authorities had, this time was insignificant.
Fifth: a very serious intrusion of executive bodies and police into the course of the election campaign. They openly supported their candidates, providing them with all the administrative leverages. At the same time, they were creating a lot of problems for the opposition candidates, including those from Azadliq bloc.
Opposition methods and goals
According to your prognosis, November 6 elections will be democratic? Otherwise, why don't you refuse to take part in them, following the appeal of some opposition activists?
There is a struggle between the democratic forces and the authorities. Not only for seats in the Parliament, but for very essence of these elections. We fight for free, fair elections. The authorities in their turn plan to guarantee a total control over the elections' results to themselves. However, I don't think that a boycott would be a right decision. During the previous elections it was tried several times, but it did not bring any positive result. We should fight for democratization of electoral process in Azerbaijan, taking part in this process.
Yesterday, in the interview to the 1st channel of the Russian TV, the President Ilham Aliyev stated that since the beginning of the 1990s, the opposition was composed of "the same people, and had the same ideas and slogans". It is difficult not to agree with him, is it?
Composition of the opposition was not the same before and after June 1993 (on this date, the legally elected President, Abulfaz Elchibey was overthrown), when we had to resign, and when the power was taken by Heidar Aliyev as a result of the armed rebellion. And already afterwards, some people were leaving the opposition, while some others were joining it.
As for our slogans, in order for them to change, and in order for our aims to change, the situation in the country must change. However, since 1993, Aliyev's regime is in power. It totally falsifies all the elections. It created a broad system of corruption in the country. It suppresses human rights. The situation today is not cardinally different from what could be seen three or five years ago. Naturally, our demands to hold free and fair elections, to respect human rights, to fight corruption and monopolization of economy, as well as many others, remain valid.
Role of the secret police
How do you characterize the role of the MNB secret police in the course of this election campaign?
The law-enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan, including the MNB, are more engaged in fight against opposition, than in fulfilling their direct duties. This is one of the main reasons for such a tension in Azerbaijan, and for violation of the human rights here.
In your opinion, how broad is the MNB agent network within the opposition, and does it reach the leading ranks of the opposition parties?
I don't think they have a serious agent network in the leadership of the opposition parties. May be somebody is there. But this phenomenon is hardly systematic.
Anyway, such activity is being carried out?
With regard of the authorities' character, this is possible. It would be natural to expect such a thing from them.
Russia's intrusion
How can you explain the recent visit to Baku of the Russian Foreign Intelligence chief, Sergey Lebedev, and the preceding visit of the Russian secret servicemen, in the delegation of the CIS Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo?
We don't have exact information about it. However, the intrusion of the certain Russian circles into Azerbaijan's internal affairs is naturally a very negative thing.
Do you mean that these visits were somehow connected with the election campaign?
I don't exclude such possibility.
What is Moscow's interest in the context of the Azerbaijani elections, and how did it tried to influence their outcome?
There are rather influential political circles in Russia that cannot abandon the control over the post-Soviet space, the reconstruction in one or another way of the former relations between Moscow and the new independent states. For the failures, as they call it, in Georgia and Ukraine, these circles seem to plan a revenge in Azerbaijan.
Did these circles really tried to influence the outcome of the Azerbaijani parliamentary elections?
We had such impression.
The circles, which you mentioned, include the closest entourage of the President Putin?
The delegations of Vladimir Rushailo and of the other high-ranking Russian officials could have hardly worked in Azerbaijan without notifying the highest political leadership of their state.
Iranian influence
In the light of speculations about plans to use the Azerbaijani territory in US operation against Iran, what were Tehran's interests in the context of the elections in your country? Are you aware of any Iranian attempts to affect the situation in Azerbaijan?
Naturally, Iran tries to influence the situation in Azerbaijan. Tehran anticipates the normal development and prosperity of Azerbaijan, because a large number of ethnic Azerbaijanis live in Iran. They compose a rather important part of Iranian society. Iranian authorities fear that a successful development of independent Azerbaijan might become a contagious example for those Azerbaijanis. Besides that, Iran fears of becoming surrounded by the countries that have strategic relations with the USA.
In what way exactly the Iranian efforts to influence the situation are expressed?
Tehran acts not as openly as Moscow. It has its own means. The Iranians try to give a religious education to young people from Azerbaijan. They are invited to Iran to study the religious sciences, and apparently, not only these sciences… There are also other methods, as charity, help to the poor population layers in Azerbaijan. This way the Iranians try to reinforce their positions in our society.
Is it possible to talk of Iranian use of the so-called "Talysh card" (a large minority, close to the Persians, which is discriminated by the official Baku)?
This is not the most important factor of the Iranian policy in Azerbaijan. However, as the Iranians first of all try to influence the population in the southern border regions of Azerbaijan, where majority of the Talysh people live, the latter are included in this category.
Turkey's passivity
How would you characterize Turkey's role in the process of Azerbaijan's democratization, taking in account the close relations between ruling regimes of the two countries?
Turkey is one of the most important countries of our region. However, it is generally attracted by the ideas of integration in the EU. In principle, this is the right course of external policy. At the same time, Turkey conducts a very passive policy, holding very passive positions, in the South Caucasus. It's impossible to talk of any active Turkish policy in Azerbaijan, and in other countries of the region.
It means that Ankara did not at all try to influence the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan?
Turkey is much more passive than our other neighbors.
Mr. Gambar, the AIA staff is grateful for this interview.
Thank you.
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