Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan’s ruling party has condemned the International Crisis Group (ICG) report on Azerbaijan, labeling it as biased.

The ICG’s report, issued last Friday, said that to protect state stability, a start on economic and political reform is essential and that "continuation of ‘business as usual’ runs the risk that Azerbaijan could squander an historic opportunity to use its energy resources to build a more durable state system and a prosperous nation."

"The growing over-reliance on the energy sector, discrepancies in wealth distribution and public disenchantment with both the government and traditional opposition parties increase the likelihood of a surge in radicalism and instability in the medium to long term," the ICG claimed in the report, entitled "Azerbaijan: Vulnerable Stability".

In a statement, Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP) said the information had been derived from opposition media and is biased, voicing hope that the shortfalls in the report would be rectified soon.

YAP said the report contained a number of views distorting the politicial, economic and social situation in Azerbaijan.

"Well-being of the population in Azerbaijan is improving by the day, and reforms are being sustainably pursued in the country. Probably, ‘analysts’ of the said organization had ‘forgotten’ that Azerbaijan was among top reformers in last year’s rating [of the World Bank]."

YAP also criticized the fact the ICG’s report had no reference to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh conflict.

"All international organizations, most likely including the International Crisis Group, are aware of the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan's lands. However, the "report" released by the organization does not reflect either the fact of the Armenian aggression, or the fact of internally displaced persons and refugees in Azerbaijan, or the socio-economic damage inflicted by this aggression, and says nothing about the continuing violation of the ceasefire regime by Armenia’s armed forces."