Aliyev is Following Saddam Hussein's Path: Washington Examiner

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is following in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein. This is stated in a comprehensive article published by The Washington Examiner.

Below is a summary of the publication:

“British Petroleum (a multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London) continues to be the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan. While the British company boasts of its 'social investments' in the country, the real beneficiary of the partnership is the ruling family of Azerbaijan.

During the presidency of Heydar Aliyev, BP and Azerbaijan signed a production sharing agreement for a major oil field in the Caspian Sea. His son, Ilham, took over both the leadership of the country and the relations with BP two decades ago after his father's death.

As of 2021, BP’s fields were responsible for 95% of Azerbaijani oil exports. This amounts to over 10 billion dollars annually, most of which goes into the private accounts of the Aliyevs, rather than the state budget.

Indirect evidence suggests that there has been an unspoken agreement by the British government to protect the Aliyevs in conjunction with their partnership with BP.

The Aliyev family owns real estate worth about 700 million dollars in London and has spent tens of millions supporting its 'cultural' organizations. In the UN Security Council, Britain often votes with Russia in ways that avoid condemning the aggressions and human rights violations carried out by Azerbaijan.

For instance, following a Security Council meeting last month, which discussed the blockade of food and medical supplies to the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, an Azerbaijani diplomat boasted that Britain and Russia had blocked the resolution.

However, protection for Azerbaijan provided through its partnership with BP may soon change. The 'caviar diplomacy' that once secured the goodwill of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic is increasingly leading to questions, if not legal jeopardy.

The real issue is that Aliyev is becoming increasingly erratic. He is following Saddam Hussein’s path when he initially denied Kuwait's right to existence (as Aliyev does today with Armenia) and then sent his military to assert his ambitions (as Aliyev is threatening to do). Meanwhile, British diplomats associated with Azerbaijan feel increasingly uncomfortable in the corridors and no longer pretend otherwise.

BP’s Caspian holdings may yield large profits, but will soon prove that flattering dictators is a losing business.