Azerbaijani analysts criticize RIA "Novosti" for interview with Beglaryan

The Azerbaijani state-owned media refrain from interviewing persons whose activities are treated as separatist in Russia; however, the RIA "Novosti" has posted an interview with Nagorno-Karabakh State Minister, Artak Beglaryan, while the Karabakh territory is treated by Azeri authorities as illegally occupied, the Azerbaijani analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 3, the website of the RIA "Novosti" became inaccessible in Azerbaijan. The RIA "Novosti" has stated that some Azerbaijani media had called for blocking access to its website after the publication of an interview with Artak Beglaryan.

Beglaryan's statements in his interview with the RIA "Novosti" contradict both the tripartite statement of Aliev, Putin and Pashinyan dated November 9, 2020, and the Azerbaijani-Russian declaration of 2022, Shain Gadjiev, an editor of the "Turan" News Agency, believes.

In his opinion, the official Baku brought its claims to the attention of Moscow and the RIA "Novosti" website was blocked in Azerbaijan after Azerbaijani authorities received no proper response from the Russian party. "The resumption of access to RIA 'Novosti' from Azerbaijani territory is possible when the RIA removes the conflicting interview from its website and undertakes to no longer publish materials against the statehood of Azerbaijan. This is not officially said, but this usually happens in similar situations," Mr Gadjiev has explained.

Elkhan Shainoglu, a political analyst, has recalled that the official Baku had never interviewed the supporters of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria living outside of Russia, whom Russia treats as terrorists and separatists. "However, the RIA 'Novosti' provides platforms [to the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh]. Azerbaijan is just as concerned about the interview with Beglaryan as Russia would be if it reads interviews with foreign Chechen leaders in the pages of Azerbaijani media," the analyst has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 8, 2022 at 10:13 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.