September 28, 2002 - 20:21 AMT
AZERBAIJAN CLOSE TO CIVIL WAR
Azerbaijan is very close to the line followed by civil war. As "Arminfo" agency reports referring to Azeri media, the co-reporter of the PACE monitoring commission on Azerbaijan Andreas Gross has state that in his interview with "BBC". According to him, the cause of the tension in the country is extreme aggravation of relations between the authorities and opposition. To normalize the situation, as the European parliamentarian thinks, the Azerbaijani leadership must transfer a part of its authoritarian power to opposition that will allow the Azeri authorities to prove their legitimacy. "This is especially important now - on the threshold of the coming presidential elections", Gross thinks. According to him, because of the insufficient development of political sphere in Azerbaijan, the authorities and the opposition cannot coordinate their activities. "They hate each other and an impression that they live in different counties is produced", the PACE deputy noted. He thinks such a state of affairs might be very dangerous for the society.