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US EMBASSY: AMBASSADOR MORNINGSTAR'S MESSAGE WAS COMPLETELY DISTORTED BY AZERBAIJANI STATE MEDIA
WASHINGTON, D.C. November 23, 2012. The reports by the Azerbaijani
official state media about the US Ambassador Richard Morningstar's
comments during his trip to the Nakhchivan region not only were
untrue, but they completely distorted the message and purpose of the
Ambassador's trip. That is according to the information from the US
Embassy in Baku that has been communicated to Azeri Report.
The source at the Embassy drew attention to the Embassy's press-release
issued on Wednesday Nov 21 that refuted the official Azerbaijani
media reports about Ambassador Morningstar praising the development of
democracy in Nakhchivan. He did not make any such comments to anyone
and stating so is the obvious distortion of the Ambassador's message
during his trip, according to the source. Quite contrary to praising
the current state of affairs regarding democracy, his meeting with
the journalist Malahat Nasibova was intended as a show of support
for human rights defenders as her, who are the outspoken critics of
the authorities' record on democracy.
As was previously reported, both Azerbaijan's central and the region's
local official news agencies published stories on Nov 5 claiming that
the US Ambassador praised the democratic development in Azerbaijan's
Nakhchivan region during his trip there. This became a subject of
controversy, since Azerbaijan is well-known for its very poor record
on human rights and democracy and Nakhchivan ranks even worse than
the rest of the country.
In his comments to Azeri Report on this issue, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski,
the chairman of the US-based Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy
(AZAD) said: "I am glad that the US Embassy issued a refutation. It
is outrageous that the Azerbaijani official state media wrongly
attributes such statements to a US Ambassador. I do not see how a
distortion of this magnitude can be an honest mistake on the part
of the government media. The Aliyev regime is well-known for its
uncivilized propaganda tactics, and now they seem to use the US
Ambassador's name in their campaign."
"Not only it is against any diplomatic norms and journalistic ethics,
but it can be very damaging to America's reputation and moral
standing. A swift and clear condemnation of such attempts from the
US government is required to prevent these incidents", added Mr.
Chakhtakhtinski.
In a further development, the Azerbaijan's State Telegraph Agency,
AzerTac (similar to Russia's state news agency ITAR-TASS), seems
to have removed today its news report mentioning the US Ambassador
praising "development of democracy" in Nakhchivan. The link to that
news report on AzerTac's English language site now comes back with
"Page Not Found" message. It can be seen as the Azerbaijani side
starting to back down from its news story.
As of today, Nakhchivan's official state news portal still has the
story on its Azeri-language site. Two other pro-government sites, the
Azerbaijani online news agency Today.az and the recently established
Washington, DC based Azerbaijani-American Alliance also still have
the same story on their websites in English language, with today.az
referencing AzerTac as the original source (Azeri Report).
WASHINGTON, D.C. November 23, 2012. The reports by the Azerbaijani
official state media about the US Ambassador Richard Morningstar's
comments during his trip to the Nakhchivan region not only were
untrue, but they completely distorted the message and purpose of the
Ambassador's trip. That is according to the information from the US
Embassy in Baku that has been communicated to Azeri Report.
The source at the Embassy drew attention to the Embassy's press-release
issued on Wednesday Nov 21 that refuted the official Azerbaijani
media reports about Ambassador Morningstar praising the development of
democracy in Nakhchivan. He did not make any such comments to anyone
and stating so is the obvious distortion of the Ambassador's message
during his trip, according to the source. Quite contrary to praising
the current state of affairs regarding democracy, his meeting with
the journalist Malahat Nasibova was intended as a show of support
for human rights defenders as her, who are the outspoken critics of
the authorities' record on democracy.
As was previously reported, both Azerbaijan's central and the region's
local official news agencies published stories on Nov 5 claiming that
the US Ambassador praised the democratic development in Azerbaijan's
Nakhchivan region during his trip there. This became a subject of
controversy, since Azerbaijan is well-known for its very poor record
on human rights and democracy and Nakhchivan ranks even worse than
the rest of the country.
In his comments to Azeri Report on this issue, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski,
the chairman of the US-based Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy
(AZAD) said: "I am glad that the US Embassy issued a refutation. It
is outrageous that the Azerbaijani official state media wrongly
attributes such statements to a US Ambassador. I do not see how a
distortion of this magnitude can be an honest mistake on the part
of the government media. The Aliyev regime is well-known for its
uncivilized propaganda tactics, and now they seem to use the US
Ambassador's name in their campaign."
"Not only it is against any diplomatic norms and journalistic ethics,
but it can be very damaging to America's reputation and moral
standing. A swift and clear condemnation of such attempts from the
US government is required to prevent these incidents", added Mr.
Chakhtakhtinski.
In a further development, the Azerbaijan's State Telegraph Agency,
AzerTac (similar to Russia's state news agency ITAR-TASS), seems
to have removed today its news report mentioning the US Ambassador
praising "development of democracy" in Nakhchivan. The link to that
news report on AzerTac's English language site now comes back with
"Page Not Found" message. It can be seen as the Azerbaijani side
starting to back down from its news story.
As of today, Nakhchivan's official state news portal still has the
story on its Azeri-language site. Two other pro-government sites, the
Azerbaijani online news agency Today.az and the recently established
Washington, DC based Azerbaijani-American Alliance also still have
the same story on their websites in English language, with today.az
referencing AzerTac as the original source (Azeri Report).