Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused foreign forces of organizing events in Ganja.

An armed attack was committed against the mayor of Ganja on July 3.  A group of people of radical religious orientation, who tried to disrupt public order in Ganja, attacked police officers on July 10. Two police officers were killed in the attacks.

“These terrorist acts were committed with the aim of intimidating society. These terrorist acts were perpetrated under the cover of religious slogans, which in itself is the biggest crime against Islam,” he said.

He stressed that those who committed crimes in Ganja are not Muslims.

“The criminal gang was rendered harmless. All participants in these crimes will be brought to justice. Law enforcement agencies were instructed to fulfill this task,” he added.

 

Neither foreign nor internal forces can influence the unity between the people and government in Azerbaijan, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during a meeting of heads of the country’s law enforcement bodies on Friday, APA reports.

“In the years of independence, several such crimes were committed, but they failed to reach their targets, because there is a strong unity between the people and government in Azerbaijan,” he said.

President Aliyev stressed that neither foreign nor internal forces can influence the unity between the people and government in Azerbaijan.

“Of course, forces who want to cast shadow on our achievements and influence us are using a variety of methods. They hold campaigns against us, inventing lies about us. The Azerbaijani people do not believe these lies and slanders. Rather they believe in their leadership. This year's presidential election clearly demonstrated this,” he said.

The president also noted that foreign-controlled media outlets are also carrying out a smear campaign.

“This campaign does not give any result. The campaign of a group that calls itself a NGO also failed,” he said.