EDITOR's NOTE: Ali Hasanov's speech added
Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.2 / Trend M. Aliyev /
The WikiLeaks material is provocative, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political Department head Ali Hasanov told journalists today.
He added that the material was disseminated to cause conflicts between countries.
The material about Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev does not reflect reality and is absolutely unreasonable. The texts are sheer provocation and aim to undermine Azerbaijan's relation with neighboring states, and to sow mistrust between heads of the states, the Azerbaijani Presidential Press Service reported.
Roughly 250,000 secret diplomatic telegrams and letters sent from U.S. diplomatic missions in various countries to the U.S. State Department were transferred via WikiLeaks to the New York Times and several other influential media outlets this week.
The documents, part of which were marked "Top Secret," disclosed correspondence from U.S. President Barack Obama's administration on crises and conflicts, harsh statements by U.S. diplomats about Muslim presidents and European leaders, information from the ostensibly private conversations between world leaders and U.S. officials, and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's requests to organize a shadowing of members of the U.N. Security Council.
Hasanov said it will soon become clear why attempts are being made to stir conflict between members of the international community.
The material posted on WikiLeaks also aims to worsen ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Hasanov said.
He added that the statement is "baseless" that Aliyev does not agree with Turkey turning into an international energy center.
The president has demonstrated through his gas export policy that he supports energy route diversification, Hasanov said. Given the bitter experience of other countries, Azerbaijan has pursued its policy regardless of other states and organizations, he said.
"The statements repeatedly voiced by the president during his speeches have been changed and presented as though Azerbaijan does not want Turkey to become an energy center," he said. "Everyone in Azerbaijan and Turkey knows the kind of pressure that Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev was subjected to in connection with his decision to build the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline via Turkey. The issue of the Caspian Sea's status was raised at that time. However, despite this, the Azerbaijani government stood up and ensured the pipeline's passage via Turkey. Would a president who has done this say such things? Without question, the president never voiced these statements. These statements were altered to meet the interests of certain forces."