Azerbaijan, Baku, September 2 / Trend /
Regnum news agency often makes reports that form a contradictory image about the agency, its staff potential and general policies, said Elnur Aslanov, department head of Azerbaijan Presidential Administration, commenting on the recent report of the Regnum agency about the meeting, held yesterday under the chairmanship of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, on the Turkish-Armenian agreements.
If to take into account that this is a Russian-based agency, so it needs to see such provocative pranks of Regnum news agency as an effort to sow discord between Azerbaijan and Russia, to mislead the public opinion of the CIS countries. Such information insinuations are contrary to the policy, which is implemented by the heads of the two states, which found its reflection in the Treaty of Friendship and Strategic Partnership. Effective and mutually beneficial relationships based on trust and partnership have developed between the two countries.
Concerning the report made on September 1, it is possible to assure that firstly, no emergency meeting took place with the participation of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Azerbaijan's position on the agreements reached and future prospects for the opening of Turkish-Armenian border was expressed in the statement by the Foreign Ministry. Secondly, we are confused and concerned over knowingly false information concerning any orders given by the tax authorities of Azerbaijan to conduct extensive inspections of all businesses with Turkish capital. Azerbaijan is a country of democratic traditions, where foreign capital can feel at home.
It is necessary to note with deep regret that since its establishment, Russia's Regnum news agency has been taking a one-sided position in covering the processes in Azerbaijan, in particular on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Permanent distortion of facts, fictions, provocation and disrespect for the principle of territorial integrity were a key theme in the work of this news resource.
Specific pro-Armenian position of the agency's management, lobbied by the Armenian capital, and the highly questionable political statements such as: "Russia and Armenia need independent Kurdistan" in general perplex and fully contradict to the policies of fairness. We clearly know the purpose of such reports prepared by the Armenian agitprop, which are not only insulting, but also used to harm the relations between Azerbaijan and its neighbors, which are based on friendship and mutual understanding.
Considering the above-mentioned, we demand a denial and an apology from the management of Regnum news agency in connection with the publication of false, unproven and biased information. I hope that this agency will in future continue to follow the principles of independent journalism and pursue a policy which aims at developing and improving Russian-Azerbaijani relations.