ACTIVITY OF FREEDOM HOUSE QUERIES ITS IMPARTIALITY
news.az
Jan 13 2010
Azerbaijan
Elnur Aslanov Trend interviews Elnur Aslanov, chief of department of
political analysis and information under Azerbaijan’s Presidential
Administration.
Freedom House listed Azerbaijan among "not free" states in its annual
report "World Freedom-2009" while Armenia where the situation in
freedom of speech is assessed as bad in numerous reports of similar
international organizations is in the category of "partially free"
countries. To what extent is the report impartial, do you think?
The assessment of Freedom House is a subjective assessment of a
group of people that work at the external order. How else can one
call the assessment of the country where participants of March 2008
events are kept in jail including deputies, journalists and ordinary
citizens and tens of diplomats were dismissed. Freedom House is coming
off like a big snot in an attempt to survive in conditions of the
financial crisis.
On the other hand, the very fact that this organization calls Nagorno
Karabakh a disputed area queries its impartiality.
Despite numerous measures connected with the development of civil
society institutions development, there is an opinion in Azerbaijan
that most international organizations give poor assessments to the
country. How do you explain such double standards of the international
organizations on Azerbaijan?
I do not agree with this opinion. If we look through the reports of
quite influential structures including the World Bank and several
different brain centers, we will see the fixed fact of the growing
influence of Azerbaijan in the region. This is a political and
economic factor. Today everyone agrees that Azerbaijan is developing
dynamically.
The government takes important and necessary steps in the sphere of
democracy, supporting development of independent mass media and civil
society. These are obvious facts. The creation of the Fund of Support
to Mass Media Development and the Council of Support to NGOs is a
bright example. Several measures from creation of the Fund of Science
Development with a budget of 7 mln for studies to definite preventive
initiatives aimed at citizens development are being implemented in the
sphere of the social-humanitarian projects. We continue development
in the economic sphere despite the overall crisis.
Construction is held throughout the country which shows that we are
not standing idle. This happens at the time when the delinquency rate
in Armenia has grown by 56.6%, the economic situation is that the
external debt will make 46% of the overall GDP this year as estimated
by Armenian analysts. Roosevelt has once said: "poverty and liberty
are incompatible".
Therefore, I would like to repeat that only some organizations rely on
their mercantile interests. Naturally, nobody states that the country
has reached everything and we should not be criticized. We are open to
criticism and we consider it to be necessary. But the criticism should
be adequate. Things should be called by their names. I would like to
repeat that Azerbaijan is not staying idle or regressing like Armenia.
Every initiative implemented by the head of state is aimed at the
future years and serves to the development of the state and the
society.
Can Freedom House state the same support to mass media and civil
society in Armenia? How can it be so that despite Azerbaijan supports
projects of mass media, creates conditions for their development, does
not prohibit newspapers and TV channels unlike Armenia and initiates
steps aimed at developing the civil society and the "third sector",
we turn out to be "not free"? It is an absurd defined by conjuncture
interests.
Freedom House has recently posted the map of Azerbaijan on which
Karabakh is indicated as a disputable area between Azerbaijan and
Armenia despite the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has been
recognized by all the countries of the world including the United
States, where this Freedom House is headquartered, and confirmed by
the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and other international
organizations. Doesn’t it mean that this organization is not quite
familiar with the state of affairs in the region?
This organization is not familiar with the region. It is unaware of
the realities of political and economic recession in Armenia. This
report is based on the thoughts of a group of mentalists. Why is
this organization silent about the tragedy in Khojaly, the massacres
committed by Armenian separatists? They do not see the occupation
of 20% of Azerbaijani lands and close eyes on this which proves that
those who prepare such documents are working at order.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress