The West is making a major mistake by supporting the Azerbaijani leadership, Hungarian-American business magnate George Soros said.

“One of the countries treated too complacently by the West is Azerbaijan with a climate of rather unpleasant dictatorship,” he said.

“I had several debates directly with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. He often pretends to be above the fray and not responsible for repressions inside the country.”

“In conversations with me, however, he demonstrated such a profound knowledge of what conditions political prisoners face in jails, on what charges they were convicted among other things,” he added.

So, according to Soros, it's just a pretense.

“He is responsible for many things. He is trying to appease the West by demonstrating new potential oil fields,” the magnate said.

“And I think that the West makes a big mistake by supporting him.”