British parliament concerned with media situation

British Ambassador Andrew Tucker received chief editor of the Yeni Musavat newspaper and deputy chairman of the Musavat party Rauf Arifoglu on Tuesday to discuss the current media situation in Azerbaijan, the British embassy said Wednesday.

The Ambassador said that freedom of speech is a yardstick by which the other countries, OSCE and Council of Europe judge Azerbaijan. There will be a question asked about this in the British parliament this week, the diplomat indicated.

“It is normal in a democracy for government and media to engage in a debate on issues of policy. Newspapers have a responsibility to report accurately, as well as the right to express opinions. Politicians must recognize that it is legitimate for the media to comment on their actions”, he said.

Any action taken by the Azeri government to reduce opportunity for the people of Azerbaijan to read the wide-range of opinion that exists here would be a negative development, Mr. Tucker indicated.