Natig Mammadli: It is us who need strong Azerbaijani media, not foreign NGOs

In a recent interview with VOA, Marc Behrendt, Freedom House's director for Europe and Eurasia, said the state of media freedom in Azerbaijan was problematic.

In an interview with Report, Natig Mammadli, head of the department at the Media Development Agency, said that Marc Behrendt was biased in his views and that Freedom House once again distorted the realities of Azerbaijan.

We present the interview below.

- How would you comment on the allegations made by the Freedom House representative regarding media freedom in Azerbaijan?

- This was not surprising for us, as it is a traditionally biased and prejudiced approach to Azerbaijan. The same views have been addressed to our country for many years. The steps taken to improve the media environment, and the positive dynamics of reforms are not taken into account. Freedom House and similar NGOs with the same mission look at the world they want to see only in their magic mirrors, it is not in their nature to hear alternative opinions, listen to the other side, and enter into a dialogue. Marc Behrendt claims that the Media Law will be a "restriction, not a reform." Amazingly, he did not even read the law, but is judging only based on rumors around it. Unfortunately, while discussing the law, there were those who said, "I have not read, but I accuse." If Behrendt had read the law, he would have known that no one in Azerbaijan intends to start such an absurd process as "keeping a list of journalists." If we are talking about the inclusion of journalists in the Media Register and the issuance of a journalist's card, it is completely voluntary. Without obtaining this card, a journalist may carry out their activities without hindrance by using all defense mechanisms established by law. Any restrictions on journalists whose details are not included in the register is out of the question.

- Behrendt claims that foreign media outlets will be "forced" to re-register. To what extent is this true?

- The Freedom House representative reiterates Reporters Without Borders' unfair stance on Azerbaijan, claiming that the "ban on the media outlet's funding from abroad" will "close the doors of information" to the independent media. We would like to emphasize once again that the Law on Media in no way restricts journalists from cooperating with foreign media entities and earning income as freelancers or in any other position. On the other hand, the thoughts of experienced professional like Mr. Behrendt that funding from abroad is a condition for the independence of the media does not stand up to criticism and is simply surprising. The idea that representatives of foreign media outlets operating in Azerbaijan will be "forced" to re-register is a continuation of the absurdity of which Freedom House is trying to convince itself. Correspondents and representatives of dozens of foreign media outlets in Azerbaijan continue to carry out their professional activities freely and there is no need for their re-registration.

It is incomprehensible that Marc Behrendt's interview contains open calls to encourage Azerbaijani journalists to speak out against the state. He even talks about the possibility of "implementing investigative journalism projects, providing training and equipment." In other words, does Freedom House's director not know that a journalist's statement in any political or other form contradicts media ethics? Marc Behrendt claims that if a journalist "deliberately angers the government, we must protect them and provide them with emergency financial assistance." This approach is an indication of the true nature of Freedom House, and freedom of expression has nothing to do with freedom of speech and journalism that must serve the public interest. Freedom House, which has repeatedly disrespected our state sovereignty and territorial integrity, has long lost its credibility in Azerbaijani public opinion, calling the mountainous part of Karabakh an "independent territory" in the category of "partially free countries."

- What do you think about the views of Gulnoza Said, Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia of the Committee to Protect Journalists, on the state of the media in Azerbaijan?

- It is us who need the information environment in Azerbaijan to be healthy, resistant to international competition, and robust Azerbaijani media, not Freedom House or any other foreign NGO. While referring to the allegations in the reports of like-minded organizations, Ms. Gulnoza Said also threatens Azerbaijan. She openly states that they call on foreign media not to cover international events in Azerbaijan. Isn't this a threatening behavior against an independent country? It is no longer acceptable that the Committee to Protect Journalists calls for restrictions on journalists' right to information.

Despite attempts to present it in a different way, we emphasize that no journalist in the Republic of Azerbaijan has been prosecuted for engaging in journalistic activities or carrying out professional activities. Only those who have committed a socially dangerous act prohibited by law have been prosecuted and tried in accordance with the law, as in all legal states of the world.

We conclude that such NGOs, who want to present themselves to their donors as useful, are abusing these freedoms in a way that serves the interests of various actors, distorting the true nature of freedom of thought, speech, expression and the media.

We do not agree with the position of the forces that systematically slander our country and its media environment, and we condemn this nihilism.