What ideas and beliefs does IRELI profess?

Faithful readers of my blog perhaps can recall that I've already written about IRELI - a former Azerbaijani youth movement which, if generally speaking, was a clone of Russian Democratic [wow!] Anti-Fascist [wow!] Youth Movement “Nashi.” The reason why I wrote about them was that back in December 2008, unexpectedly for both political analysts and ordinary citizens as me, Ireli dissolved itself and then re-invented as a public union.

Ireli was a very controversial organization from the very beginning. Founded in the eve of 2005 Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, when there were widespread speculations about another orange revolution in another post-Soviet country, a pro-government movement managed to attract hundreds of active youth to its rows, and formed a strong force both loyal, and useful to the leadership of the republic. During four years of its existence (2005-2008), "Ireli" mobilized hundreds of its members to conduct numerous projects - all aimed at strengthening the support for the government.

I barely had and have any contacts with Ireli and its members, and thus didn't have any chances to practically observe and learn what ideas and beliefs they profess, except for those declared in their documents. However, in a recent roundtable in Baku organized by a respected international organization, I had a chance to encounter some of their top leadership, including their chairman Jeyhun Osmanli. And I was shocked. Here is what Mr Osmanli said (I was taking notes simultaneously, though there can be some stylistic inconsistencies):

I don't believe there is a universally adaptable model of democracy that every country in the world can take and apply. Actually, I don't like the word “democracy” itself. What I am in favor of is social democracy, that is democracy should contribute to social development of everyone, all people without exception or discrimination.

If I ask you about the development of Japan, I will hear all positive words. However, if we look at Japanese vocabulary, we will see that there is no word “freedom” there.

If these are the guys who are prepared to rule the country in next 20-30 years, then methinks, our children and grandchildren will have to repeat all our humble efforts again and again. After all, unlike Japanese, we have the word “freedom” in our vocabulary.