No "Arab Spring" is possible in Azerbaijan

U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Azerbaijan Adam Sterling touched upon a number of important issues, including relations between the two countries in an interview with ANS TV channel.

Mr Sterling said that Azerbaijan over the past 20 years has went through a long way of development and today there are excellent relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan that continue to develop.

President Ilham Aliyev recently responding to a question at a security conference in Munich, said that events that took place in Egypt are impossible in Azerbaijan.

Asked "Do you expect the arrival of the" Arab spring "in our region?" Mr Sterling said: "First I would like to mention that I agree with the statements of the President. It's not reasonable to compare the two countries. The two countries differ in their history, the internal situation and conditions. I'm also not going to make comparisons with any country to discuss the situation in Azerbaijan. Considering the situation in Azerbaijan, we can see that over the past 5 - 6 years the republic has significantly development economically. This has created great opportunities, contributed to its growth. There was an increase in citizens' trust in their government. Parallel to this, very big positive changes took place in the society. This in itself leads to stability. Citizens believe that their government does not create obstacles for them, and wants to help them. In addition, last year the Azerbaijani government took a very important law - anti-corruption strategy. The authorities understand that the facts of corruption separate power from people, creating an abyss between them, alienate them from each other. This is a very important political step taken to establish a sustainable stability, the strengthening of society. This activity is itself a part of internal democracy and economic reforms. We believe that the continuation of such transformations is of great importance in terms of restoring long-term stability".

On the eve of the Eurovision-2012 contest international attention at a very high level will be drawn to Azerbaijan, Mr Sterling noted. He expressed confidence that the European media, the Europeans will try to get more information about Azerbaijan.

"I think this is a very positive fact for Azerbaijan. At the same time Azerbaijan has become a country that in recent years has entered the international arena and positively proved itself. For example, the election as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council was the reason for the fact that Azerbaijan is in the center of world attention. And this is of course is normal," he said.


/Trend/