“Protection from the USA”: political scientist Markov revealed the meaning of early presidential elections in Azerbaijan

“They are the best experts in the world at inciting conflicts.”

Early presidential elections have been scheduled in Azerbaijan, which were supposed to take place in 2025, but will ultimately be held on February 7, 2024. Moskovsky Komsomolets found out why the Azerbaijani authorities are in such a hurry to re-elect the head of state.

The President of Azerbaijan, 61-year-old Ilham Aliyev, has led the country since 2003, and in April 2018 he was re-elected for the fourth time.

In the upcoming elections, in accordance with the Constitution of the country, he will be able to run again. Aliyev signed the order to hold early elections on December 7. Political scientist Sergei Markov told Moskovsky Komsomolets about how these elections could go.

“There is no doubt that this will be a complete and triumphant victory for Ilham Aliyev,” Markov believes. “There may be absolutely record numbers close to one hundred percent. This is connected with the resolution of the most important Karabakh problem. Moreover, the price that Azerbaijan paid for this, by the standards of military conflicts, is small.”

– Why was it decided to hold elections early?

– Most likely, this is due to the sharp deterioration in relations between Azerbaijan and the United States, Azerbaijan and the European Union.

Yesterday at the forum, Aliyev very strongly criticized the Americans and EU representatives, who themselves make accusations against Azerbaijan. I think that the Azerbaijani leadership is insuring itself in case of attempts to organize unrest by the United States, France and other European Union countries. They want to get ahead of them and do it as quickly as possible – they have two months to prepare, but this time falls on Christmas and New Year holidays.

– How high is the likelihood of unrest in Azerbaijan?

– Ilham Aliyev’s popularity is enormous, but the ability of Western countries to incite problems, unrest and contradictions cannot be underestimated. They are the world’s best experts at instigating conflict.