151st position in the index of freedom of the press, imprisonment of journalists, murders, cases of attacks on mass media representatives: the facts are about Azerbaijan. The Aliyev regime's atrocities against the media are not limited to this, there are many cases when journalists fighting for freedom of speech left Azerbaijan to avoid repression. The facts recorded in various international reports, however, did not constrain Ilham Aliyev to hold a state-funded Global Media Forum in Shushi. Armenian journalistic organizations appealed to the international partners who participated in the forum.
Ashot Melikyan (Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech) - A country that has established an authoritarian regime and freedom of speech is in a suppressed state and ranks 151st out of 180 countries in the world, it is not the place to talk about the problems of the media and the problems of the world media in such a media forum.
Artur Papyan (Yerevan Press Club President) - We expect international partners to condemn the fact that journalistic organizations and international organizations participate in the media forum in a country that ranks one of the last in terms of freedom of speech and human rights.
The President of Azerbaijan and his assistant made speeches at the forum held on July 22-23. According to Artur Papyan, President of the Yerevan Press Club, and Ashot Melikyan, the President of the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech, participating journalists could not be completely free in the issues they raised at the media forum held under the high patronage of the state.
Artur Papyan - If the participating journalists had talked about human rights violations in Azerbaijan, they would have talked about the fact that 120,000 Armenians are actually condemned to starvation, it is a humanitarian crisis, if they did not ask these questions, then they were not there as journalists, and therefore the one he had was not in the media forum.
Ashot Melikyan - If they did not raise these issues to cover the situation or the serious problems of Azerbaijan's media field, typical of the authoritarian regime, and did not make them a subject of discussion, then their visit was purely touristic.
"Reporters Without Borders" international organization condemned the media forum organized by Azerbaijan.
Journalists without borders - The Global Media Forum organized by Azerbaijan ends without results. Independent mass media and journalists did not participate in the event. Reporters Without Borders condemns the extreme hypocrisy of Ilham Aliyev's regime.
According to the Azerbaijani side, more than 250 participants from 50 countries from 120 media outlets took part in the media forum. Among them, Anthony Belanger, General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, participant of the forum, attempted to see the situation in Stepanakert and present it to the world. According to the Facebook publication, the journalist informed that before reaching the checkpoint of the Russian peacekeepers, the Azerbaijani soldiers stationed about 100 meters away had forbidden him to go to Stepanakert.
Artur Papyan - It was an important record that it was not the Armenians who did not let them come, not the Russian peacekeepers, but the Azerbaijanis themselves.
In response to the inquiry of 'Lurer' the Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists emphasized that they are deeply concerned about the incident.
Tim Dawson (Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists) - Free movement of journalists is at the heart of democracy. Without independent eyes and ears, there will always be questions about what is hidden. This is even more worrying considering the reports about the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. If there are no assurances to remove these restrictions, the International Federation of Journalists will issue statements at the international level.
The European Federation of Journalists also responded to our survey. Ricardo Gutiérrez, Secretary General of the organization, emphasized that political speculation often leads to conflicting information and it is important that journalists have the opportunity to check the facts on the spot.
Ricardo Gutierrez (General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists) - Journalists should be allowed to go to Stepanakert to see with their own eyes the humanitarian crisis affecting the civilian population. We will issue a statement calling on the involved states to support the movement of journalists in Karabakh and neighboring regions.
Armenian journalistic organizations aim to reach a full condemnation of the media forum held by Azerbaijan, recalling not only the repression of journalists in Azerbaijan, but the targeting of Armenian and foreign journalists by the Azerbaijani army during the 2020 44-day war and the September aggression of 2022.
