Popular Front Party (PFPA) chairman Ali Karimli has refuted reports on the Yeni Fikir (New Thought) youth movement chairman’s Ruslan Bashirli’s cooperation with the Armenian secret service. The reports and relevant TV broadcasts are another subversion of Azerbaijani secret service, Karimli told a news conference. The Prosecutor’s Office issued a report on Thursday saying that while visiting Tbilisi, Bashirli plotted with the Armenian secret service to stage a coup and provoke stand-off in Azerbaijan. It also said that the chairman and another representative of Yeni Fikir went to the Georgian capital on Karimli’s instruction. Karimli said that the individuals that spoke with Bashirli during the visit presented themselves as representatives of Georgian non-government organizations. The PFPA chair said that a while ago, one of these persons, who are now known to serve Armenian secret service, visited Baku, presenting himself as a businessman, and met with him. If he works for Armenian secret service, how did he manage to enter the city? Where were government agencies then? Karimli went on to say that after Bashirli returned from Georgia, he met with him in Baku. Bashirli then said that while in Tbilisi, a Georgian businessman offered him money, but he refused. I am not sure now - either Bashirli was not saying the truth or this part was removed from the TV footage, the PFPA chair said. Karimli noted that he was disappointed with some statements by Bashirli. I was frustrated by what he said about the Upper Garabagh conflict and the US plans to stage a revolution in Azerbaijan. He was in a drunken state when he made those statements. Karimli also said that he believes that various psychotropic substances were mixed in the drinks that Bashirli had with the mentioned individuals. The PFPA chairman did not rule that Russian secret service agencies may be involved in the incident, as the reports on the matter and the video-tape showing the conversation Bashirli had in Tbilisi were submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office by a Russian citizen. Bashirli bears not criminal but moral responsibility for the incident, said Karimli. (Baku Today)