EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Opposition-Government Battle Over Response to Guliyev

EURASIA INSIGHT

OPPOSITION-GOVERNMENT BATTLE OVER RESPONSE TO GULIYEV
Rovshan Ismayilov 10/17/05

Although opposition leader Rasul Guliyev failed to arrive in Baku on October 17, opposition members and some political observers argue that the government’s reaction to Guliyev’s planned return marks a potential turning point in Azerbaijan’s parliamentary campaign.

Hundreds of armed troops in riot gear were deployed throughout Baku, especially around the airport, government buildings, parliament and Azadlig (Freedom) Square. All entrances to the city were blocked from mid-morning.

Regardless of their political affiliation, many ordinary Baku residents expressed alarm at such a gathering of troops, unseen since the instability of the mid-1990s, One taxi driver with a stand near Government House in downtown Baku could not hide his irritation. "Why do they need so many troops for just one person? And if they want him to be arrested, why did they not let him come [into the country] as he was supposed to do?"

Interior Minister Ramil Usubov told television stations that law enforcement agencies had deployed troops after receiving operative information about a coup attempt allegedly intended by supporters to coincide with the exiled Democratic Party chairman’s return to Baku. In conjunction with Rasul Guliyev’s arrival, the Internal Ministry reportedly discovered three arms arsenals, one in Ganja and two in Baku, and arrested 26 people, mostly Democratic Party members, but, also, former Finance Minister Fikret Yusifov.

In statements broadcast on television, Siyavush Novruzov, deputy executive secretary of the ruling YAP party, said that the opposition aimed to disrupt the election process and the authorities prevented such a provocation, Novruzov believes.that the opposition discredited itself when Guliyev failed to keep his promise to return to Azerbaijan on October 17.

Guliyev claims that Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), the state company which manages Baku’s airport, did not grant landing rights to his plane and that the craft had to land in Simferopol, Ukraine for refueling. AZAL President Jahangir Askerov, however, showed journalists a fax sent to Simferopol with permission for Guliyev’s plane to land. Elman Salayev, deputy chairman of the Democratic Party, counters that the fax was only sent upon detention of Guliyev by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies acting on the request of Azerbaijani Interpol.

Political analyst Ilgar Mammadov, an independent candidate for parliament, argues that the authorities’ reaction to the former parliamentary speaker’s travel plans, however, only contributed to Guliyev’s popular image as a political figure, rather than as a criminal wanted for embezzling more than $100 million in state funds. "Maybe he committed some crimes, but the reaction of the government in this particular case is obviously political," Mammadov said.

Mammadov argues that Guliyev’s continued absence from Azerbaijan until after the elections could, in fact, play to the opposition’s advantage as a destabilizing factor. "On October 17, the opposition got the advantage of the status quo. The authorities showed that they are afraid of Rasul Guliyev’s presence in Baku. . .What will they do now? Keep troops in Baku all the time?"

YAP Deputy Executive Secretary Mubariz Gurbanli, however, scoffed at that view. "Of course, we were not afraid of them [Guliyev and the opposition], but we tried to prevent provocations in the capital city. These troops in Baku serve to maintain stability and peace," Gurbanli said. "This is the only reason why the government used internal troops. Everybody is witness to the fact that the opposition failed to gather a lot of people to meet Rasul Guliyev. It was just small groups of provocateurs. They are lying all the time. Why should we be afraid of them [the opposition]?"

Opposition members claim that the government also made unfair use of the media to maneuver against Guliyev. Television newscasts reported that Guliyev had refused to return to Baku, even while Ukraine’s interior ministry confirmed that the party leader had, in fact, been arrested. The opposition alliance Azadlig, of which Guliyev’s Democratic Party is a member, reports that it was only allowed to make a pre-recorded, rather than live, election broadcast on state television on October 17. Azadlig members characterize the demand as an attempt to employ censorship. "This is illegal! Everything that happened today [October 17] shows that the authorities do not want to provide free and fair elections," said Fuad Mustafayev, deputy chairman of the Popular Front Party.

Other opposition members, however, still managed to take to the airwaves to broadcast anti-government views. Avaz Temirkhan, deputy chairman of the Liberal Party, dedicated the party’s free air time on public television to comments about Rasul Guliyev’s arrival. "Is Guliyev Jack the Ripper or Bin Laden?" Temirkhan raged. "Why do they need the whole army to arrest him? When part of the country is occupied, the Army is supposed to be doing something rather than meeting an opposition leader at the airport."

Meanwhile, opposition leaders are looking to the US, which granted Guliyev status as a political refugee, to intervene in the ex-parliamentary speaker’s case. Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Elman Salayev said that the party and Guliyev’s relatives have applied to the US Department of Homeland Security for assistance. "I got the information that the US embassy in Ukraine is already in charge of this issue," Salayev told EurasiaNet. Officials at the US embassy in Kiev could not be reached for comment, but an official at the US’s Azerbaijan embassy told EurasiaNet that the mission hopes both opposition and government will not let the dispute lead to a break-down in the election process

One legal expert, however, states that while Guliyev’s arrest in Azerbaijan, his home country, would eliminate the role of the US as an asylum-granting country, his arrest in Ukraine requires Washington to respond to prevent the extradition of a political refugee. According to Alevsat Aliyev, chairman of the Center for Legal Assistance to Migrants, the 1951 UN Convention provides that a person granted political asylum abroad cannot be extradited to the country of citizenship. "Unless Rasul Guliyev arrives in Azerbaijan, he is under US patronage," Aliyev said.

Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has stated that Guliyev will be extradited to Azerbaijan within 40 days, the time required for such procedures under Ukrainian law. The Democratic Party’s Salayev does not believe that US and Ukrainian authorities will allow Guliyev to be handed over to Azerbaijani authorities. "When in 2003 Rasul Guliyev was detained in the Netherlands, it took a couple of hours to clarify the issue and release him, while the Azerbaijani authorities were preparing to send representatives of law enforcement agencies to take him out of the country. Maybe in Ukraine it will take more time, but he will definitely be released and come back to Azerbaijan as he planned."

For now, Salayev continued, the opposition is waiting to see how the situation in Ukraine develops before deciding whether to follow through with earlier promises to hold daily unsanctioned rallies in Baku to protest Guliyev’s arrest. "On October 23, we will hold a protest in the center of the city as planned, and nothing will stop us from the struggle for democracy."

Editor's Note: Rovshan Ismaylov is a freelance journalist based in Baku.

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