Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 17 / Trend's K. Zarbaliyeva /
The Council for State Support to NGOs under the Azerbaijani President protested distortions of reality regarding Azerbaijan in Freedom House's annual report, the Council said on Monday.
Freedom House included Armenia, which for certain world powers is a tool of aggression against other countries of the region, on the list of "partially free" countries. It openly showed the interests it serves, the Council said.
"The organization, with its delusional statements about restricting freedom of speech, assembly and Internet in Azerbaijan, the arrest of bloggers, poor prison conditions, is trying to create a negative image of Azerbaijan," a statement said. "The report in terms of content does not differ from the accusations of some pro-Armenian MEPs. They continue observing economic interests, rather than human rights in Azerbaijan. Otherwise, they at least once drew attention to the main problem of the country, having one million refugees and twenty percent of the territory occupied by Armenia."
Freedom House with its reports prepared on the basis of the subjective opinions of several NGOs, is not sympathetic to Azerbaijan; smear campaigns harm Azerbaijan's international image and help the process of alienation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, a statement said.
"The Council of State Support to NGOs under the Azerbaijani President strongly condemns Freedom House's slanderous report and urges NGOs in the country to unite against campaigns against Azerbaijan," a statement said.