From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Fri Feb 21 2003 - 09:53:19 EST
Azeri paper analyses opposition stance on "president's deteriorating
health"
Excerpt from Nazim Sabitoglu report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni
Musavat on 20 February entitled "`Cleveland news' proves to be true.
Officials say Heydar Aliyev was invited by George Bush. Our reports say
this visit is linked with the president's health problems"
The Presidential Administration yesterday afternoon officially announced
that [Azerbaijani President] Heydar Aliyev would be visiting the USA.
Aliyev was invited by the US President George Bush and will pay the
visit later in February, the report said.
Everyone knows that Bush is currently busy with Iraq. The USA is gearing
up to lead a huge military campaign against [Iraqi President] Saddam
Husayn and the administration is working on this round-the-clock. The
White House has a very tight schedule now and an increasing number of
reports suggest that the war in Iraq will start in late February. The
question is - why does Bush need Aliyev in such a situation? On the
other hand, such visits by presidents are always carefully planned
beforehand and, according to protocol, the objectives of the visit, its
accurate timing and hour-by-hour timetable are prepared. The fact that
the official report consisted of only a few lines, did not spell out the
objectives of the meetings or length of stay feeds questions and
suspicions.
The leading press of Azerbaijan, newspapers Yeni Musavat, Azadliq, and
Hurriyyat have published many articles recently about the foremost
objective of the visit. This is about Heydar Aliyev's health problems,
even though the head of the presidential department for international
relations, Novruz Mammadov, has dismissed these media reports and has
said that the president has no health problems.
[Passage omitted: earlier reports on Aliyev's health]
Aliyev recently canceled his visit to Kazakhstan and failed to attend a
ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution on 11
February at Gulustan Palace. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with
Aliyev on the telephone two days ago because he personally wanted to
learn about Aliyev's state of health.
"Reports by our newspaper and other independent media that Aliyev will
undergo treatment at the Cleveland hospital in late February have been
confirmed," the editor-in-chief of the Yeni Musavat newspaper, Rauf
Arifoglu said. "This signifies once again that the independent media
knows how to work with news and has sound sources of information.
Notwithstanding how glad we are to learn that our reports were
confirmed, we deem it our duty to wish a good health to the head of the
state. Inshallah, Aliyev will come back and we will resume criticizing
his regime."
The pressure on Yeni Musavat intensified after it had published reports
on Aliyev's deteriorating health, Arifoglu said. "I would advise
government stooges not to busy themselves with what they do not
understand. Working in the Presidential Administration and catering to
Heydar Aliyev does not mean being informed well. Not everyone is granted
access to secret information. We thank those people who inform
newspapers in time and care about the accuracy of our reports."
Speaking about the political aspects of the situation, Arifoglu said
that this should not affect the opposition's activities. "The opposition
must not relax, the processes should continue at their normal rate."
Arifoglu recalled what he had written about this in a recent article.
"It is possible that Aliyev will appoint a new prime minister while in
Cleveland and temporarily transfer powers to him. I reckon that in March
the political situation in Azerbaijan will change. The opposition must
act quickly and prepare Azerbaijan for emergencies, just in case. It is
too early to rejoice or relax. We need to work, make the right decisions
and keep up our common fight. Aliyev is only going to the USA. That is a
faraway country but it is possible to return from there. The foremost
task of the opposition is to prepare the population for all possible
scenarios."
Arifoglu said that the opposition will act gentlemanly in this
situation. "The opposition virtually froze all its activities every time
the president had undergone treatment in the past. We must not let that
happen again. This is election year; every day that passes diminishes
Azerbaijan's chances and no one has the right to waste this opportunity.
I wish good luck to everyone."
In conclusion, Arifoglu said that Aliyev had undergone treatment in
Cleveland in February 2002 as well.
Source: Yeni Musavat, Baku in Azeri 20 Feb 03, p 3
BBC Mon TCU 200203 bk/ra
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