For the first time ever in Azerbaijan media history president Ilham Aliyev answered the question of an independent media outlet.
On Friday, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev participated in the Petersberg Climate Summit in Germany and had several meetings during the visit, including with the German chancellor Olaf Scholz. After one to one meeting, both held a press conference to answer questions from the press.
During the meeting, Co-founder of Mikroskop Media Fatima Karimova asked the president about the projects that have been implemented in Karabakh in non-transparent ways, and undisclosed tenders since 2020, the year Azerbaijan in 44 days of war and regained most of its territory.
“Your question is actually quite surprising”, Aliyev started disagreeing with the question saying “all restoration and reconstruction work in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur is carried out in the most transparent manner”.
In his response, the president also didn’t agree with the information and said it is from “some unverified sources”
Some takeaways from his long answer:
- Media and public regularly is updated on public funds that allocated
- 7 billion dollars have been and will be invested
- Tender procedures are strictly followed.
- Every person returns there with a sense of gratitude to the “Azerbaijani Army and the leadership of the country”
- He knows “the absolute majority of the Azerbaijani media likes, supports and praises our activities.”
Why is it considered for the first time?
Ilham Aliyev has been in power since 2003, after his father Heydar Aliyev’s sudden death and until February 2019 he has always given an interview only to foreign media outlets. He had justified his interviews to foreign media outlets as “spreading Azerbaijan’s truth and position to the world.”
He has also started to answer some questions of local TV channels that are under control of the government, since 2019.
It has not been possible for independent journalists and media to attend those events and conferences in Azerbaijan where Aliyev participates. The reason for that hasn’t been disclosed.
Therefore it is the first time that the exiled media outlet tried and managed to address the question to Ilham Aliyev.
To Which local media Aliyev gave an interview for the first time?
In February 2019, President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview for the first time to REAL TV, a local TV channel and one of the government’s main propaganda platforms.
The interview mainly covered the activities of Ilham Aliyev and “successful reforms” that were being implemented. No critical question was asked to him during the interview.
Why was the question important?
The details of projects implemented in Karabakh, or why those companies have been chosen are rarely disclosed. There have been only some tenders published on the official procurement website (e-tender.gov.az) which includes the governmental body which ordered the project, the name of the winning company and the amount of the contract.
However, some of the projects’ tenders remain a mystery.
At the same time, local companies’ cooperative records (on shareholding, founders etc) have been considered a commercial secret since 2012.
