"Answering a BBC correspondent’s question regarding the armed assault on Head of the Ganja City Executive Authority Elmar Valiyev on July 3, I stated based on preliminary information that ‘it was a criminal act committed against the mayor, there’s been an armed attack, the mayor and his bodyguard have been wounded, the perpetrator has been captured, and law enforcement authorities are taking necessary measures.’ It would not be right to give more detailed information without the consent of the relevant authorities with regard to such grave offenses. As a state official I just tried to let the public know that the government was in control of the situation,” Ali Hasanov wrote.

“A joint statement issued by the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service on July 6 said that the crime was a terrorist attack and committed by the foreign citizen Yusif Safarov, who had taken part in combat operations unauthorized by the Azerbaijani state.”

“It then turned out that the assassin was not driven by a personal issue or revenge and ‘social injustice’ as claimed by his wife in videos disseminated in local as well as foreign media. Rather it became clear that his act was aimed at establishing a Shariah-ruled state in Azerbaijan for the sake of his ‘ideals’ for which he had fought in Syria. Yunis is a foreign citizen raised in an affluent family and he can’t have thought of a leftist revolution in Azerbaijan for social justice. As he himself admitted, he had been prepared to carry out the attack for years, waiting for an opportunity to arise. It appears that the accident that occurred in Mingachevir created a good opportunity for him,” Ali Hasanov said.