Azerbaijan does not care about the international community’s opinion. The international community cannot exert any pressure on Azerbaijan due to its oil and being a transit country on the way from Turkey to Afghanistan, Richard Giragosian, Director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies, stated at a roundtable, commenting on the disgraceful parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.

The elections proved a test not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the international community. Azerbaijan actually made a challenge to the international community by holding elections running counter to democratic standards. However, due to a number of factors, the latter has to give a lenient response to Baku’s impudence, Giragosian said.

According to him, Armenia now has a more aggressive and authoritarian neighbor. The disgraceful elections have even more alienated the region from democratic values, Giragosian said. This year’s parliamentary elections proved to be even more disgraceful than the previous elections, as the Opposition hardly had any chance to get into Parliament. All means were used, from denial of registration of opposition candidates down to bans on rallies and black PR – during the prime time the state TV showed porno video with one of the opposition candidates,” Giragosian said. He also pointed out the clan system in Azerbaijan. In no country has the First Lady ever been a Parliament member. Even the latest amendments to the country’s Constitution, which extend the terms of Aliyev’s presidency, were, as some experts believe, aimed at neutralizing his wife Mehriban Alieva’s political claims – many political figures consider Mehriban her own husband’s real political rival, Giragosian said. He pointed out that the President’s uncle and his niece’s husband got into Parliament as well. Relatives of numerous high-ranking officials got into the Milli Majlis as well. In fact, the son inherits power from the father in Azerbaijan, Giragosian said.

This is the Azerbaijan the Armenia side will have to negotiate the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Given the current situation in the country, the following question arises: will the Azerbaijani people under yoke support the authoritarian regime in unleashing a new war in Nagorno-Karabakh?