Azeri TV reminds BBC that deadline ends 1 June

ANS TV, Baku
24 May 04

[Presenter; Following a report about two Armenian defectors] Another
comedy is being played with our Azerbaijani colleagues who are working
under the management of an Armenian Mark Grigoryan. But we will talk
about this later.

[Correspondent] There is only one week left until 1 June. It is
this day when a deadline given by the ANS management to BBC World
[Service] is ending [ANS rebroadcasts BBC World Service programmes in
Baku]. As we have reported, ANS took this step as a protest against
BBC’s position on Azerbaijan, in particular, against this company’s
morning programmes. Finally, today we managed to learn the regional
executive editor of the Eurasia regional unit, Olexiy Solohubenko’s,
oral response to ANS’s letter of warning. We should say that Mr
Solohubenko expressed a tough reaction to ANS’s step.

[Olexiy Solohubenko in English over Azeri-voice over] I think it
is a very bad mistake on the part of ANS if it really goes to do
it. It is even a bigger mistake as it is made by ANS. This is very
bad for Azerbaijan. I am very much surprised that ANS is going to do
so without proving that BBC is wrong.

[Correspondent] It is interesting that Mr Solohubenko says that ANS is
doing so without proving BBC’s wrong steps. It is surprising because
several letters have been to the BBC management protesting against
BBC’s biased programmes broadcast in the mornings, particularly,
programmes by producer Mark Grigoryan in which he clearly attempts
to distort the existing realities around the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict. The letters have more than enough number of proofs and
evidence.

However, Solohubenko is determined to support their positions and
Mark Grigoryan. Incidentally, ANS’s another prediction turned out to
be correct. Mr Solohubenko skilfully used the fact that Azerbaijanis
work under the leadership of Mark Grigoryan.

[Solohubenko] The fact that Mark Grigoryan is an Armenian does
not mean that he is no good. He works with us in a team involving
11 Azerbaijanis. If you have any specific claims concerning Mark
Grigoryan, we are ready to consider them. But given that there is
no other claim apart from the one that he is an Armenian, this is
inadmissible.

[Correspondent] Going further with his explanations, Mr Solohubenko
started informing us on BBC’s international essence. He said that
there are Jews and Arabs and other Africans work there and they all
work there as part of BBC but not as ethnic groups or representatives
of their nations. But ANS CM is trying to highlight this point that
the status of a citizen of an aggressor country and of a citizen of
an occupied country cannot be equal. Their truths are also different.

We also talked about the Muslim-Christian side of the problem. Mr
Solohubenko taught a little lesson for us here as well.

[Olexiy Solohubenko] Muslims and Christians work together here. This
is why we cannot understand the problem you have raised. I regret that
this is happening in the Caucasus, in Azerbaijan which is tolerant
to free media. This is a bad mistake and it is very bad for Azerbaijan.

[Correspondent] There is only one week left until 1 June. Which means
that Mark Grigoryan has seven more days on the air. Sevda Hasanova,
ANS.