Lilith Makunts on Aliyev’s Statements

The authoritarian president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in his recent speech regarding the democracy and legitimately formed government of the Republic of Armenia, allowed himself to make remarks and assessments that are characteristic only of his regime. This was stated by Lilith Makunts, the head of the ‘My Step’ faction in the National Assembly, on her Facebook page.

She specifically noted, “Let me address Aliyev’s comments with a few points. - First, Aliyev forgets that he is speaking about a state that has collectively defended the right of its compatriots to live freely in Artsakh. - Second, in strengthening and crystallizing democracy within our state, we may have different approaches with various political forces, even entirely disagreeing and contradictory positions. However, we have proven multiple times that we have no brakes in protecting the security and the right to live of our people and homeland, and we act with a united front. - Avoiding direct communication with his own people, Aliyev attempts to belittle the role and significance of real democracy on the basis of misinformation to justify his authoritarianism, which I am confident does not escape the attention of certain segments of society in Azerbaijan that criticize Aliyev, as well as the international community.

With this step, Aliyev demonstrates all his fears regarding democratic processes. In fact, it can be concluded from Aliyev's speech that the steps taken by our state aimed at security, army strengthening, and the consolidation of democracy cause deep concern and panic for the president of Azerbaijan, who must clearly understand that there is no alternative to peace, and any encroachment and provocation by Azerbaijan will be met with a more than adequate response.