Elnur Aslanov: "I do not take Freedom House seriously and I think its reports serve the interests of the circles, striving to destabilize situation in Azerbaijan"

Today I do not take Freedom House seriously, considering their reports about our country as not only false but also serving interests of the circles, striving to destabilize situation in Azerbaijan, said Elnur Aslanov, chief of department of political analysis and information of the Azerbaijani Presidential administration, speaking about the recent report of Freedom House by results of 2008, where Azerbaijan is attributed to not free countries.

According to him, the methodology of the agency of propaganda is old and probably they have to understand that the Soviet Union has collapsed long before, while democracy is perceived differently as compared to how it was represented by those who arranged radio programs, expositions in support of emigrants, printed reports about the communist countries 30-40 years ago.

"The definitions, that were defined just before the attack on Pearl Harbor during creation of the Freedom House, are archaic in the modern world.

Second, is it serious and unbiased to attribute the country, neighbor to Azerbaijan, where five deputies are in jail and the Ministry of Internal Affairs makes an official order to trace opposition and where over 40 people, specified as political prisoners by pan-European institutions, are under arrest, to the list of the so-called "partially free" states. On which basis is it done?", says he.

Aslanov wondered what the authors of this report want to prove to someone by compiling a report in their kitchen about who is free and who is not.

"Under their logics, countries with weak institutional basis, where Prime ministers are replaced every three months or elections are either appointed by the head of the state or eliminated by other executive bodies, are also "partially free".

Which democracy is implied, if these countries can not define an effective development strategy for themselves? If we take into account the opinion of the authors of these reports, weak structure, which allows to manipulate the state and the society from outside, regulate and form directions of development abroad, enables any countries to get the so-called "free", "partially free" or "not free" status.

On the whole, he said it is difficult to speak of democracy in the world, when one sees a number of examples of how democratic ideals are used for new invasions or resources.

"We can hold endless disputes about the success of democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan or humanism of jails under open air. Democracy has a different meaning in the world and therefore, the talks about national models of democracy and issues of national identity are growing more urgent. The universality of the so-called "democratic demarche" has been discredited and further the world order will be more based on the intentions to form separate democratic communities", noted Aslanov.

/Day.Az/