Hikmet Hajiyev: “Azerbaijan will appeal to Germany’s relevant bodies regarding the issue”

The program broadcasted by Germany`s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) on July 31, 2015 titled “Tensions rise in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” is biased, one-sided and beyond the principles of objective journalism.

Spokesman for Azerbaijan`s Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told the aforesaid while commenting on the program broadcasted by Deutsche Welle.

He said that the DW’s sending its camera crew to Azerbaijan’s occupied territories is the violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and laws of Azerbaijan.

“The program deals with Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan and false statements of “military and civilian representatives” of the so-called regime established by Armenia in the occupied territories. However, the program purposefully includes no information about the rights and sufferings of more than a million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons who were the victims of the conflict and subjected to ethnic cleansing. The program serves the promotion of bloody ethnic cleansing committed against the Azerbaijani people, Armenia’s occupation and aggression against Azerbaijan and so-called criminal regime created as a result of it, thus it is disrespect for more than one million refugees and internally displaced persons and the Azerbaijani public,” he said.

Hajiyev said though DW claims that one of its main objectives serves the understanding between cultures and peoples of the world, it serves escalation of religious and ethnic dissension via this program.

“Distorting the true nature of the conflict, broadcasting a biased program, "DW" also demonstrates its contempt for the local and international audience. Such an approach is also considered to be a violation and abuse of freedoms of expression and press. The most serious concern is the fact that DW, which is a public broadcasting company, is financed by the state budget of Germany. Azerbaijan’s embassy in Germany will officially appeal on the matter to the country’s relevant authorities.

We hope authorities in Germany will thoroughly investigate the issue of the preparation and broadcasting of this programme, which is in contrast with the spirit of Azerbaijan-Germany ties, the official position of Germany – as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group – regarding the conflict, and freedom of press, and will issue an adequate statement in this regard,” he said.

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