Russian journalists today met with the chairman of the opposition United Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, Gudrat Hasanguliyev, in the framework of the visit by representatives of the Russian media to Azerbaijan on the eve of the parliamentary elections on November 1st.
"We think that only by turning Azerbaijan into a parliamentary republic will we be able to develop democracy in the country at a very fast pace," Gudrat Hasanguliyev said.
The chairman of the opposition United Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan noted that the opposition in the country is fragmented. "This is a big problem, and unfortunately, the opposition has no chance to unite," the opposition leader added.
"I do not think that someone will ever support these color revolutions in Azerbaijan" he stressed.
Answering the question of Vestnik Kavkaza about Azerbaijan's relations with Russia and the EEU, Gudrat Hasanguliyev said that they are profitable markets for Azerbaijan. "It is clear that the economic benefits meet political obstacles, as Armenia is a part of the EEU. There is also a fear of too strong an integration with Russia, because it can affect our sovereignty. However, we had very close economic relations with Russia in Soviet times, and now we can restore them and develop," he concluded.
"We need to have good relations with Russia, if Russia will help to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, because the key to the problem is in its hands. Of course, some parties criticized me a lot when I said that we can join the Eurasian Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and can even establish a Russian military base in Azerbaijan and harmonize our energy policy," Hasanguliyev noted.
The opposition leader also said that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will "greatly increase Russia's prestige in the world and the region."
