EDITORIAL OFFICES IN AZERBAIJAN CLOSED AND RANSACKED
By Aghavni Harountiunian

AZG Armenian Daily
24/05/2007

The recent situation with the Azeri press should certainly arouse
the concern of any state’s leaders.

Moreover, the international organizations would not remain silent,
too, if the violations against the journalists were carried out in
an African country.

While, the oil resources of Azerbaijan make even the most devoted
fighters for the freedom of the speech shut up.

Thus, yesterday the editorial offices of two opposition newspapers
"Realni Azerbaijan" and "Gyundelik Azerbaijan" were ransacked and
closed.

Moreover, all the equipments were confiscated from the newspapers. They
also ransacked the apartment of Eynulla Tafulaev, the editor-in-chief
of one of the closed newspapers.

In Azerbaijan, Fathulaev is accused of carrying out terrorist
propaganda and of cooperating with the Armenian special services. In
a situation like this, Azeri FM Elmar Mamediarov keeps talking of
the success fixed in the Azery democracy, of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, even of the recent elections in Armenia in the interview to
"Interfax-Azerbaijan."

In particular, Mamediarov also turns to the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs
and stated that before NKR receives its status, everything should be
carried out according to the will of Azerbaijan.

At the same time, having forgotten the statements of the very OSCE
Minsk group Co-Chairs who said that transferring the settlement
of Nagorno Karabakh conflict to another formats is undesirable,
Mamediarov says that the GUAM initiative of frozen conflicts would
be quite successful within the framework of UN.

He adds that the discussion of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in UN
will make no harm to the negotiation process.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress