No Azerbaijani politician will change anti-Armenian political course

“21 candidates are running in the presidential election. From this point of view, the upcoming presidential election due in Azerbaijan on October 9 is interesting as there were only 6 candidates in the last presidential election. It is an attempt to prove something to the international community and the West as everyone understands that few of the candidates are able to have their voters and put up serious resistance to Ilham Aliyev who will do everything in order to be reelected,” Sargis Asatrian, an expert on Azerbaijan, said at a press conference today.

He considered as unprecedented the establishment of National Council of Democratic Forces opposition bloc, which made an attempt to unify the Azerbaijani opposition.

“They succeeded only partially in unifying the opposition because not everyone wants to rally round a single candidate and many have their personal ambitions. Famous film director Rustam Ibragimbekov was initially elected as the leader of the bloc, but he didn’t come to Baku and Jamil Hasanli picked up the baton from Ibragimbekov. Hasanli became the so-called single opposition candidate. He is famous as one of the creators of Azerbaijan’s contemporary history,” Asatrian noted.

The expert expressed an opinion that Jamil Hasanli will be runner-up in the presidential elections.

He said that destabilization of the internal political situation in Azerbaijan and massive protests are unlikely because presidential elections is Azerbaijan are not a factor which may lead to the situation’s destabilization.

In Asatrian’s words, in Azerbaijan there is currently no politician who could change the anti-Armenian political course of that country.

“Some of the candidates declare that they must come to power and take Karabakh, they accuse the authorities of being inactive in this sense. In other words, they attract voters in this way. Yet, more constructive discussions have not been held,” Sargis Asatrian said.