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Today, Azerbaijan
Dec 5 2009
We are very interested to do story from Azerbaijan: Euronews editor in
chief
05 December 2009 [09:42] - Today.Az
Day.Az interview with Euronews editor in chief Peter Barabas.
How did this idea, about making such a documentary came up to you? Was
this a Euronews initiative?
Euronews always seeks to cover the major stories of our times on
location. We always strive to get access into the most difficult
locations. The frozen conflict of Nagorno Karabakh and especially the
lives of the people there is such a story. When we covered the recent
football match between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we asked the Armenian
government whether it
would grant us access to go into Nagorno Karabakh to do a report on
how the people there live and what their hopes are for a peaceful
settlement. Our condition was that we do this story solely on the
basis of our editorial guidelines and journalistic values. The
Armenian government agreed to grant us this access and this is how one
of our crews managed to get to the frontline which is a rare
achievement.
The material is dedicated to Nagorno-Karabakh. Mostly, the video
features the Armenian side of the story, the Armenian president's
interview, and also a few words from the people who currently live in
Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia are the two sides of the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh. But in your material there are no Azeris, and
no Azerbaijani part of the story is presented. What is the reason?
Don't you think that in order for material to be "fully covered", and
balanced, there must be both sides of the story presented?
The purpose of our story was to have a report from the frontline,
focusing on the people whose lives have been held up by the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and this is what the report is about.
We did not get into the political or historical aspects of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict because we know how sensitive this matter is. Had we
chosen to do so, we would have obviously included Azerbaijan's view on
the matter.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has sent a letter of protest against
your documentary to the Euronews office. Is Euronews going to answer
the letter? If so, then when? The request was actually about removing
the video from your Euronews website. How will the channel react?
We have read that Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry have sent us a letter,
but we have not received it so far. When we receive it, we will review
it and answer it promptly. For the moment, we cannot comment on a
letter which we haven't received.
Now, since Azerbaijan is one side of the conflict, does the Euronews
plan to listen to the other position on this issue? Do you plan to
talk to the Karabakh Azerbaijanis who have become IDPs due to ethnic
cleansing?
We are very interested to do the same story from Azerbaijan, with the
people who live next to the frontline and whose lives were uprooted by
this conflict. We are ready to go as soon as the government grants us
this access, but with the same condition we posed to the Armenian
government :that the editorial angle and content of the report will be
solely based on our editorial values and guidelines. We very much hope
to be able to do this report as soon as possible.
T. Teymur
Day.Az
URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/57957.html
Dec 5 2009
We are very interested to do story from Azerbaijan: Euronews editor in
chief
05 December 2009 [09:42] - Today.Az
Day.Az interview with Euronews editor in chief Peter Barabas.
How did this idea, about making such a documentary came up to you? Was
this a Euronews initiative?
Euronews always seeks to cover the major stories of our times on
location. We always strive to get access into the most difficult
locations. The frozen conflict of Nagorno Karabakh and especially the
lives of the people there is such a story. When we covered the recent
football match between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we asked the Armenian
government whether it
would grant us access to go into Nagorno Karabakh to do a report on
how the people there live and what their hopes are for a peaceful
settlement. Our condition was that we do this story solely on the
basis of our editorial guidelines and journalistic values. The
Armenian government agreed to grant us this access and this is how one
of our crews managed to get to the frontline which is a rare
achievement.
The material is dedicated to Nagorno-Karabakh. Mostly, the video
features the Armenian side of the story, the Armenian president's
interview, and also a few words from the people who currently live in
Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia are the two sides of the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh. But in your material there are no Azeris, and
no Azerbaijani part of the story is presented. What is the reason?
Don't you think that in order for material to be "fully covered", and
balanced, there must be both sides of the story presented?
The purpose of our story was to have a report from the frontline,
focusing on the people whose lives have been held up by the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and this is what the report is about.
We did not get into the political or historical aspects of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict because we know how sensitive this matter is. Had we
chosen to do so, we would have obviously included Azerbaijan's view on
the matter.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has sent a letter of protest against
your documentary to the Euronews office. Is Euronews going to answer
the letter? If so, then when? The request was actually about removing
the video from your Euronews website. How will the channel react?
We have read that Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry have sent us a letter,
but we have not received it so far. When we receive it, we will review
it and answer it promptly. For the moment, we cannot comment on a
letter which we haven't received.
Now, since Azerbaijan is one side of the conflict, does the Euronews
plan to listen to the other position on this issue? Do you plan to
talk to the Karabakh Azerbaijanis who have become IDPs due to ethnic
cleansing?
We are very interested to do the same story from Azerbaijan, with the
people who live next to the frontline and whose lives were uprooted by
this conflict. We are ready to go as soon as the government grants us
this access, but with the same condition we posed to the Armenian
government :that the editorial angle and content of the report will be
solely based on our editorial values and guidelines. We very much hope
to be able to do this report as soon as possible.
T. Teymur
Day.Az
URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/57957.html