Elmira Tariverdieva, Baku. Exclusively to VK
In recent times the Western and even Russian mass media has been publishing negative articles on Azerbaijan hosting the Eurovision song contest in Baku in late May. It seems the contest has nothing in common with politics, but it became a reason for criticism of Azerbaijan.
“The European Broadcasting Union should express its attitude to the revolting practice of the Azerbaijani authorities in the sphere of freedom of expression ahead of Eurovision,” the international organization Human Rights Watch stated in a video-report. On May 2nd the EBU conducted a seminar in Geneva on media freedom in Azerbaijan. Baku was represented by the head of the socio-political department in the presidential administration, Ali Gasanov. Gasanov said to journalists that “in recent times the Western mass media is forming the image of Azerbaijan as a non-democratic country where political pluralism is absent, human rights are violated, and freedom of expression is oppressed. We held serious debates on the issue on May 2nd in Geneva.” According to Gasanov, the EBU makes journalists pressure Azerbaijan for gaining certain concessions from it. Probably this is connected with the fact that Azerbaijan has been building a multi-vectoral policy, maintaining a balance in foreign policy. The world powers want to see Baku as a strategic partner, due to the unique combination of geopolitical factors influencing the character of the region’s development and relations with the neighboring countries – Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Turkey. However, pressure in these issues is unacceptable.
According to Gasanov, the general opinion in Geneva was that Eurovision in Azerbaijan shouldn’t be politicized: “The government of Azerbaijan guarantees appropriate conditions for the journalists who will cover Eurovision. Freedom of expression is being provided and will be provided in the future. The government of Azerbaijan will continue to cooperate with Western countries.”
The criticism by the Western press is explained in Baku as black PR caused by hosting Eurovision. Azerbaijan began being accused at the moment when the country began demonstrating achievements in the sphere of politics and economy. The point is not that the country has no problems at all. Even Europe has problems, for example, riots by representatives of other religions in London and Paris. Baku doesn’t say it has managed to cope with all tasks that it faces on the way to democracy in 20 years of independence. But it is strange that problems are being underlined now. When Azerbaijan became a member of the UN Security Council, when it was supported by 150 countries, the mass media didn’t report on Azerbaijan’s successes.
A lot can be said about Azerbaijan without hiding the problems which are natural for a country that has recovered from a hard crisis after the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It seems that the West considers the holding of Eurovision as its greatest achievement, much more important than membership in the UN Security Council. Probably some Western forces are prejudiced against Azerbaijan based on Islamophobia. Or maybe they don’t want to admit that a post-Soviet state can be a competitor for a European country.
Today Azerbaijan has every chance of becoming a part of Europe, but the West should understand that it has been building democracy for 20 years, Europe has been building it for centuries.
