Russian political analyst Stanislav Tarasov believes the recent rallies in Azerbaijan to be a quite predictable turn of events.

“Azerbaijan and Georgia believed that turning their back on Russia to pursue a pro-Western policy would be correct. The move, however, dragged them into destabilizing processes which engulfed a large area spanning from Africa to Caspian shores,” the expert told PanARMENIAN.Net.

According to the expert, Azerbaijan doesn’t fit in with Western democracy norms either.

“Russia, however, doesn’t promote democratic mission in post-Soviet space. Moscow doesn’t support either the leadership or the opposition, in contrast to the West, which backs both to try and manipulate them,” Tarasov said.

“The recent rallies in Azerbaijan are undermining the trust in the country’s regime ahead of presidential polls. Should Baku continue to rely on the West, it might well face the fate of Arab leaders,” the expert said.

“Without democracy and new national policy, Azerbaijan will continue losing its territories; neither do Karabakh Armenians need to annex themselves to the authoritarian state,” the expert concluded.