Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 July / Trend corr. E.Babayev/ Governing New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) believes court proceeding including media must not be treated as pressure upon freedom of speech and press in Azerbaijan.
"Different foreign organizations which cannot admit Azerbaijan's development try to make a show that there are problems with freedom of speech and press in Azerbaijan. Journalists must not be a tool in the hands of such forces," Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of NAP Ali Ahmadov said 21 July at a meeting with journalists dedicated to the Day of Azerbaijani National Press - 22 July.
Statehood interests must be above all for Azerbaijani journalists, Ahmadov said. "The problems between the society and press in Azerbaijan have become rarer. Public does not treat press criticism as a tragedy and takes easy objective criticism," Ahmadov said. In spite of some difficulties, Azerbaijani press is passing an honorary and glorious way, he added.
Ahmadov called on journalists to objectively elucidate presidential elections to take place in the country in October.
The NAP was founded in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan (NAR) in 1992 by Heydar Aliyev, who then was the chair of the Nakhchivan Parliament. Present chairman of the party, which has been governing for 15 years, is Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
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