QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT AZERBAIJANI CITIZEN’S INTERVIEW TO ARMENIAN TV

news.az
Jan 19 2010
Azerbaijan

Eldar Taghiyev An interview given to Armenian TV by Azerbaijani citizen
Eldar Taghiyev may contravene international law, it has emerged.

Eldar Taghiyev, 47, was detained during an attempt to cross the border
into Tavush District of Armenia on 28 December 2009, according to
Armenian media reports.

In an interview broadcast by Armenian Public TV on 18 January, Taghiyev
said he had no intention of returning to Azerbaijan. He said that he
had no job and living conditions were harsh in his village of Alibeyli
in Tovuz District in the west of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani officials think that Taghiyev has been captured by the
Armenian side.

"The interview given by Azerbaijani captive Eldar Taghiyev to an
Armenian TV channel contradicts international conventions," the
secretary of the State Commission for Prisoners of War, Hostages and
Missing People, Shahin Sailov, told ANS Press.

He said that under international rules, hostages and captives must
first meet representatives of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC). Any public statements are inadmissible without such
a meeting.

The secretary for the state commission said he had no information
about Eldar Taghiyev meeting ICRC representatives. A meeting is
planned but there is no official information about it.

Shahin Sailov said that Eldar Taghiyev might have been forced to talk
to the Armenian TV channel. "He is a captive. It is not so difficult
to force a captive to give an interview and make statements against
his country."

Everything that Eldar Taghiyev said in his interview to Armenian
Public TV is untrue, according to Maharram Gasimov, head of the
Alibeyli village executive authorities.

He said Taghiyev’s remarks about a shortage of water in Tovuz were
not true.

"All villages in Tovuz are supplied with water. Alibeyli village
is supplied with water both naturally and through pumps that pump
water from the Tovuzchay river. A water channel passes near Eldar
Taghiyev’s house, so his comments on a shortage of water in the
village are untrue," Gasimov said.

He said that the village has enough water both for agricultural
irrigation and for everyday domestic use. "Eldar Taghiyev has a
wonderful house. There is a bathroom in his house. If there is no
water, how does his family use the bathroom?" Gasimov asked.

Gasimov said that Eldar Taghiyev had no grounds to complain about
social conditions.

The head of the executive authorities said that Eldar Taghiyev used
to be involved in trade, but had recently been earning a living as
"an ordinary worker".