Arrests of media representatives in Azerbaijan are carried out within the framework of the law – I.Aliyev

Ilham Aliyev and Olaf Scholz discussed the peaceful settlement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a briefing after the meeting. "We have just touched upon this topic and stated that the issue should be resolved peacefully and it is very good that you have established direct contact with Prime Minister Pashinyan," Scholz said, addressing Aliyev.

Germany is ready to help resolve the problem if the parties wish it, Scholz said, calling on both sides to compromise. He expressed satisfaction with the agreements reached on the delimitation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Further, Scholz reported on the discussion of "Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the impact of this war on the South Caucasus region." Russia must end the war, withdraw its troops and recognize the territorial integrity of Ukraine, he stressed.

Touching upon the ecology, the Chancellor stated the readiness of German companies to participate in green energy projects in Azerbaijan "to create the necessary conditions for this."

Next, the Chancellor raised the issue of ensuring rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan. "An indicator of real democracy is the presence of a critical press, freedom of expression and other fundamental freedoms. I wish you success in this direction," Scholz stressed.

In turn, Ilham Aliyev spoke about plans to supply green energy to Europe, as well as to bring the volume of natural gas to Europe to 20 billion in the future. a cube per year. Touching upon the negotiations with Armenia, he recalled the organization of the foreign ministers of the two countries in Germany.

Azerbaijan intends to resolve the issue by peaceful means and the process of delimitation and demarcation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan has already begun today. "Now 4 villages occupied by Armenia in the early 90s are being returned to us, and the process is moving in a good direction," he said.

Human rights are being violated in Azerbaijan and journalists are being arrested. In particular, journalist Imran Aliyev was arrested, what can we say about this?

To this, Ilham Aliyev said "about the legality of the arrest of media representatives who illegally receive funding from abroad." According to him, all this is happening within the framework of the law. No country will allow interference in its information environment, and Azerbaijan is doing the same. "We have a free press and a free Internet. If there is an Internet in the country, then what kind of violation of press freedom can we talk about," Aliyev said.

When asked by a journalist from the Azerbaijani newspaper "Microscope" about the reason for the opacity of multibillion-dollar economic projects in Karabakh, Aliyev said that this was not the case. "Everything is transparent and all the data is publicly available, I do not know where you got such data from. Most of the media in Azerbaijan are satisfied with the available information on this issue," Aliyev said.