In his interview with modern.az, National Assembly deputy Yevda Abramov declared that several Azerbaijani media outlets including websites are being financed by Iran.
“In Azerbaijan there are sites and other media outlets that are under strong influence from Iran. They regularly receive financing from the Iranian consulate and the ruling circles of that country. […] They serve the interests of various lobbying groups. When I speak of this, some of our people rebuke me. But in Israel there is great discontent and even alarm because of such things.”
The chairman of the Azerbaijan Press Council, Aflatun Amashov, replied to his colleague’s controversial statement.
“I can’t say which site is financed by what government. This is impossible to determine on the basis of 5-10 articles. Nevertheless, the proper authorities are studying all this.”
According to him, law-enforcement agencies can deal with this if necessary.
“Azerbaijan is an independent country with its own, independent politics. Historically, it’s come to be that we have close relations with each of our neighboring countries. Nevertheless, each of these countries has its interests. These interests can sometimes be incompatible with this or that of Azerbaijan’s positions. I believe that politics should always facilitate the development of friendly and good-neighborly relations.”
One thing I can say for sure, is that the primary goal of any media outlet created in Azerbaijan, including websites, should be to serve their own people and state.”
We remind readers that just recently, in September of this year, in a meeting with Mohammad Haddadi, head of the Iranian information agency IRNA, Aflatun Amashov announced that “The closeness of the Azerbaijani and Iranian media structures is extremely beneficial.”
