Azeri Leader Upset with Ukraine’s Release of Opposition Leader

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told his Ukrainian counterpart Victor Yushchenko during a phone conversation on November 4 that Kiev’s decision to release Azerbaijani opposition leader Rasul Guliyev was “a surprise for the Azeri people” which does not help boost bilateral ties, as well as relations in frames of GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova), the Azerbaijani President’s press office reported.

Exiled Azeri opposition leader Rasul Guliyev had to travel to Ukraine in October after an unsuccessful bid to return to Azerbaijan on the eve of the November 6 parliamentary elections, as he was reportedly barred from landing in Baku. But a court in Ukraine ruled to release Guliyev, who was detained by the Ukrainian police in response to a request by the government of Azerbaijan, where Guliyev is wanted for alleged misappropriation of USD 117 million.

After returning back to London, Guliyev spoke against officials in Tbilisi and complained in an interview with the Tbilisi-based Imedi television that the Georgian authorities warned he would have been arrested if he had arrived in Georgia. He also criticized President Saakashvili for hailing Ilham Aliyev’s policies as the right course for Azerbaijan.

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