Elmira Tariverdiyeva: "The West is too interested in every event that occurs in Azerbaijan"

Yesterday, the majority of Azerbaijani citizens, who came to the referendum on amendments and additions to the Constitution of the republic, have supported all the changes. More than 91% of voters have voted for the extension of presidential term to seven years and givin the head of state the right to declare early presidential elections. The same number of voters supported the abolition of age requirement for presidential candidates. More than 89% of voters have supported the proposal to introduce the institute of vice-presidency. The head of Trend news agency Elmira Tariverdiyeva spoke about the essence of the amendments and additions to the Constitution, foreign policy and the Russian language in Azerbaijan in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- In your opinion, which amendments of yesterday's referendum are the most important?

- All amendments are important, considering the fact that last time the amendments to the Constitution were made in 2009. It is clear that over the past seven years not only the international political background has changed, but also social and political life in the country, the economic situation in the world, which also affected Azerbaijan. Yesterday's referendum will allow to respond to any changes in the international political environment more flexibly, will improve the government's instruments in order to implement initiated economic reforms more successfuly, will strengthen stability, which is one of the main values of Azerbaijan, the region and the world today. 

One of the most important things, in my opinion, is the introduction of vice-president post. The international experience suggests that the introduction of such post allows to timely and actively respond to any changes that occur in the political life of the country, to all current challenges faced by every country, including Azerbaijan. This post is in the interests of the people of Azerbaijan. People came to this referendum to vote for stability. They understand that changes are necessary for dynamic development of the country itself.

- How do you assess the informational background and coverage of this event in the West?

- We have already got used to the fact that the West is too interested in any event that occurs in Azerbaijan, whether it is a sport event, a song contest or elections. The West is always interested in what's happening here. It really surprising how some forces react to internal affair of the country. Perhaps someone is irritated by absolutely independent policy of Azerbaijan, which carries out its policy in accordance with its own national interests, without looking at anyone and without discussing what it is going to do with anyone. We have a friendly and balanced political course, but apparently someone does not like it. Hence this pressure on Azerbaijan. Recently, many countries have quietly made amendments to their constitutions. It is a necessity in modern world. But for some reason such negativity was directed only towards Azerbaijan.

- A few days before the referendum the opposition held rallies in Azerbaijan. What was their goal?

- These rallies were extremely small. The largest rally was held on September 11 and gathered 2.5 thousand people. Lately we can see an alarming trend that 40% of the protesters are representatives of radical Islamic organizations. This is a frightening trend. External forces, which are betting on Islamism (not Islam, Islamism!) do not understand what are they doing. As for the rest, 2.5 thousand people that gathered at the only major rally - in my opinion, it indicates that the opposition is weak and has no influence. Citizens are not interested in people, who call themselves the opposition. There is opposition in Azerbaijan, just like in any normal country, but today it does not play any role in the political life of the country.

- How comfortable is Azerbaijan in foreign policy today?

- Azerbaijan continues to pursue the policy of balance. Azerbaijan is quite friendly country. It maintains good relations with both the West and Russia, it is ready for any dialogue on equal terms. But as soon as it hears mentor tone Azerbaijan just stops listening. The countries that listened to this mentor tone, which is also used by the West, have paid for it dearly. Many countries are torn by civil wars, confrontations. But the ones who try to influence other countries do not understand the consequences, because afterwards it is really hard to deal with forces that came to power using this situation. So the most important thing today is to maintain stability. The people of Azerbaijan have perfectly understood it in recent years, after seeing the imposition of pseudo-democracy. 

- It's been more that a months since the meeting of the Presidents of Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan. What agreements were implemented during that time?

- The main issue discussed at the meeting of three presidents is 'North-South' project. This transport project will be beneficial for all three countries. It is being implemented right now. Soon this artery will connect Europe and Asia and it will be beneficial for everyone.

Russia and Azerbaijani are allies. Azerbaijan appreciates the role played by Russia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. Of all three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia pays the biggest attention to this issue. It can be seen in the work of its President and Foreign Minister. Overall, we have a lot of common things, including in the economy. Non-oil sector is very important for both oil-producing countries today. This is a perfect field for cooperation.

- Azerbaijan is considered to be an example in terms of preservation of the Russian language for many post-Soviet countries . How does it manage to maintain such level?

- The Russian language has always played a huge role in Azerbaijan. For example, even in Soviet times documentation in Georgia and Armenia was written in national languages, but not in Azerbaijan. Today the government is doing everything to preserve the Russian language at a good level, it opens many schools, almost all universities have Russian sector. People of Azerbaijan are very interested in Russian TV shows and books. Almost every home in Azerbaijan has Russian channels. Everyone read Russian news. 

Azerbaijan always had very warmly and friendly attitude towards Russia, and the Russian language has always been the language of international communication here. Azerbaijan is a multinational country, so the Russian language is still the language of international communication today. Azerbaijan has branches of Russian universities, and it is considered very prestigious to study in these universities, receive education in Russian. Any institution welcomes the knowledge of the Russian language, so it seems to me that the government's actions and attitudes in society are the main reasons for the fact that the Russian language is preserved at such level in Azerbaijan.