Stop gossiping about Azerbaijan’s president in Sweden

For unknown reasons to me, some news sources and political circles in Sweden spread misleading material about Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev. To better understand Ilham Aliyev’s performance as President, we must examine the situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan after independence. In connection with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet Azerbaijan became independent on August 30, 1991, But Armenia did not recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and with the help of Armenia, the Armenians living in the Karabakh region tried to establish a second Armenian state called Artsakh in the lands of Azerbaijan. In fact, after Azerbaijan’s independence, it inherited a corrupt political system from the former Soviet Union to govern the country, unfortunately at the same time a state of war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia. So far, two full-scale and bloody wars have taken place between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Thousands have been killed and tens of thousands have been disabled. Unfortunately, a lasting peace agreement has not been concluded between Armenia and Azerbaijan so far. Given these factors, a mechanical comparison of Azerbaijan with countries such as Sweden is not a scientific assessment. All over the world, governments have special powers in times of war. For example, after the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government announced that Ukrainian citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 could not leave the country. Obviously, it is only during wartime that governments can make such decisions that seem undemocratic in peacetime. Azerbaijan has repeatedly been the victim of terrorist attacks by Armenian extremists and ISIS. In addition, several secret plans by the Iranian security service to form terrorist groups and carry out terrorist acts in Azerbaijan have been revealed. It is clear that in such circumstances, the Azerbaijanis prefer their mental and physical security to individual freedoms and want more state control over their own and their children’s security. It should be noted that despite these war conditions and the corrupt administrative system inherited from the former Soviet Union, valuable political reforms have taken place in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Permission to form oppositional political parties and organizations, etc. Obviously, these reforms are not enough, and this reform process must continue. What some political circles in Sweden are not aware of is the Aliyev family’s position in public opinion in Azerbaijan. The father of Azerbaijan’s current president, Heydar Aliyev, came to power in a very critical situation in Azerbaijan. By the time he came to power, 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory was already occupied by Armenian armed forces and more than one million war refugees inside Azerbaijan were living in poor conditions. Azerbaijan was in a very critical situation. there was a great risk of the collapse and chaos of the administrative system in the country. He was very successful in preventing chaos and creating administrative and political stability in the country and this gave the Aliyev family a special place in public opinion in Azerbaijan. Some Azerbaijanis view Heydar Aliyev as a spiritual father. After Heydar Aliyev, his son Ilham Aliyev became president of Azerbaijan. He was able to successfully fulfill all the promises made by his father and himself. The most important thing was that he could liberate a large part of the Azerbaijani territories occupied by the Armenian armed forces. The President of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev is fluent in four languages, Russian, English, French and Turkish. According to public opinion in Azerbaijan. Mr. Ilham Aliyev has become an icon of secularism, modernism and political reform.

Written by Babak Azad