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BAKU: TV takes dim view of British NGO's reconciliation project

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  • BAKU: TV takes dim view of British NGO's reconciliation project

    Azeri TV takes dim view of British NGO's reconciliation project

    ANS TV, Baku
    22 Sep 04

    [Presenter] Those who want peace in the region have started a new
    project.

    [Correspondent, over video of news conference] ANS's regular viewers
    are perhaps aware of the project. We have talked about this project
    aimed at bringing peace to Azerbaijan subjected to aggression and
    aggressor Armenia which are in completely different positions. The
    fact that Britain is especially active in achieving peace between the
    sides attracts attention. The point is that a special web page on
    Karabakh launched by the BBC, which caused mixed reaction among the
    public, is Britain's business.

    This project was launched in Britain in the early 1990s. Three to five
    minutes' long diaries are short stories written by ordinary people
    without the intervention of journalists. It was launched in Georgia
    nearly a year and a half ago. Those who want to implement this project
    in Baku said that it was aimed at enabling people who have not been
    almost heard on the air to express their opinion in public. The best
    pieces from every region will be chosen, translated into English and
    some other languages and broadcast in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
    Georgia. The only country where this project has not been carried out
    yet is Armenia.

    We asked the project managers wishing those people's integration into
    the world how well they were acquainted with the Karabakh problem and
    how relevant the project was to our situation.

    [Jonathan Cohen, Caucasus programme manager of the conflict mediation
    NGO Conciliation Resources, speaking English with Azeri voice-over]
    One cannot be fully informed about conflicts. Of course, we understand
    it is important to collect information about the settlement of these
    conflicts. For this reason, our project wants to study all the South
    Caucasus countries.

    [Correspondent] Then we drew their attention to the Armenian
    occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijan which has over 1m
    refugees. Asked if the project, regarded as successful in the
    Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, was relevant to our reality, they answered
    that radio channels broadcasting these diaries were choosing them
    independently. Programmes running counter to the state and national
    interests might not be broadcast, end of quote.

    However, the project's representatives did not clarify what state and
    nation they were talking about. Azerbaijan or Britain? Azerbaijan or
    Azerbaijanis?

    Leyla Hasanova, Ruslan Mammadov, ANS.
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