BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 9
Trend:
You have no moral right to talk about free media, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to the BBC News, Trend reports.
- Will they [Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh] have the full range of human rights which people here in Azerbaijan do not have? Will they have fully free media? Will they have an opposition that’s allowed to raise its voice. Will they be allowed to have the things that people here in Azerbaijan do not have?
-You think they do not have it? Why do you think that people in Azerbaijan do not have free media and opposition?
-Because this is what I am told by independent sources in this country.
-Which independent sources?
-Many independent sources.
-Tell me which.
-I certainly couldn’t name sources.
-Oh, if you couldn’t name that means you are just inventing the stories.
-So, you are saying that the media is not under state control.
-Not at all.
-And there is a vibrant free opposition media.
-Of Course.
-Where do I see this?
-You can see it on the internet. You can see it everywhere.
- But not in newspapers.
-Why? You can see it in the newspapers. Whom do you call opposition here? Can I ask you?
-Well, is there allowed to be an opposition here?
-Yes, it is allowed of course.
-I mean NGOs are the subject of the crackdown, journalists are the subject of the crackdown.
-Not at all.
-Critics are in jail.
-No, not at all.
-None of this is true.
-Absolutely fake, absolutely. We have free media, we have free internet. Now, due to martial law, we have some restrictions but before there have been no restrictions. The number of internet users in Azerbaijan is more than 80 percent. Can you imagine the restriction of media in a country where the internet is free, there is no censorship, and there are 80 percent of internet users? We have millions of people on Facebook. How can you say that we don’t have free media? This is again, a biased approach. This is an attempt to create a perception in the Western audiences about Azerbaijan. We have opposition, we have NGOs, we have free political activity, we have free media, we have freedom of speech. But if you raise this question, can I ask you also one? How do you assess what happened to Mr. Assange? Isn’t it the reflection of free media in your country?
-We are not here to discuss my country.
-No, let’s discuss. Let’s discuss.
-No, President Aliyev.
-In order to accuse me saying that Armenians will not have free media here, let’s talk about Assange. How many years, sorry, how many years he spent in the Ecuadorian embassy, and for what? And where is he now? For the journalistic activity, you kept that person hostage actually killing him morally and physically. You did it, not us. And now he is in prison. So you have no moral right to talk about free media when you do these things.