World leaders express their position on the conflict in Kazakhstan, and today even the head of the separatist regime in Karabakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, who has found a pan-Turkist threat against Kazakhstan and Central Asia, has joined the chorus of political statements. But official Baku is silent, although relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have always been close both at the level of leadership and between peoples.
On January 10, only the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement, expessing condolences to the Kazakh people, and without addressing the statement to President Tokayev or the former leader of the country Nazarbayev.
Why does President Ilham Aliyev , who lways responds to world events, keep silence? They write that political scientist Elhan Shahinoglu published in the press an assertion about the sending of directives from the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan to controlled media outlets to study the opinion of experts on the possibility of a direct parallel between the introduction of CSTO troops into Kazakhstan and “Black January (the shooting of Azerbaijanis by the Soviet army on January 20, 1990 Shahinoglu writes that the directive was sent from a certain group in the Presidential Administration, and it is clear that the command was given from the highest authority. “Official Baku considers Tokayev’s invitation of Russian troops to Kazakhstan to be a mistake and assesses it as an occupation, similar to the introduction of troops into Baku on January 20, 1990 of the year”.
For this publication, some media attacked Shainoglu, accusing him of abuse of authority and connections with the PFPA and Musavat parties.
In an interview with Turan, the chairman of the Atlas Anatoly Center, Elkhan Shainoglu, said that the Azerbaijani leadership is waiting because it is difficult to predict events in Kazakhstan. It is not known how the forces in this country will be distributed in the future.
“On the other hand, the decision of President Tokayev to invite the CSTO forces, but in fact the Russian army, with the order to shoot at the demonstrators, raises questions from Baku. Open support for Tokayev means approval of the entry of Russian troops into Kazakhstan. For this reason, official Baku has to be careful. Therefore, I consider the silence of the country’s leadership natural,” Shainoglu said.
Rovshan Ibrahimov, a professor at the Khankuk University of Foreign Studies, in an interview with Turan said: “I think that President Aliyev expressed his attitude, and in the near future President Aliyev’s statement will appear in print, since relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are at the level of peoples and heads of countries. I think, on a personal level, Aliyev probably expressed condolences to the President of Kazakhstan. Why didn’t it appear in print? leaders of this country.”
Answering a question from Turan, political analyst Shahin Jafarli said that the Azerbaijani leadership, in his opinion, had not yet figured out the events.Has Nazarbayev been really distanced? Can he come back? Does Tokayev completely control everything? At this stage, it is difficult for President Aliyev to make up his mind and express his opinion. “On the other hand, Baku takes into account the Russian factor. Aggressive Russia threatens the West, and at this time Baku does not support the Kremlin, but it also cannot oppose Russia’s interests, preferring to wait.”
He noted that official Baku is traditionally in no hurry to quickly express its position on revolutionary events. This is the standard policy and style of the Administration. At the same time, it is clear that Baku is categorically against any street protests in any country, especially in the post-Soviet space. Such events run counter to the interests of the Azerbaijani leadership. With a high probability, after the stabilization of the situation in Kazakhstan, a call and an expression of support from the Azerbaijani president will come from Baku to Astana, Jafarli said.
Source: Turan News Agency