Azerbaijan authorities complain over BBC visit to Nagorno-Karabakh

Associated Press Worldstream
June 9, 2004 Wednesday

BAKU, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijan’s national broadcasting council
has complained to the British Broadcasting Corporation that a crew
visited the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh without the agreement
of Azerbaijani authorities, the council said Wednesday.

A statement from the council said that the head of the BBC World
Service’s Azerbaijan bureau Islam Atakishiev was called to the council
to receive the complaint that a crew from the BBC’s Russian-language
had gone to the enclave, which has been under control of ethnic
Armenian forces for a decade.

The crew “participated in direct dialogue with the terrorist regime
there,” the statement said.

“In the event of continued preparation of further reports demonstrating
indifference to Azerbaijan’s national interests, the question of
broadcasting the BBC on Azerbaijani territory will be reviewed,”
the statement said.