Azerbaijan's youth & sports minister comments on situation around Eurovision-2009

The statement reads:

"Recently, the questions have been mounted, in several internet portals, around the participation of Azerbaijan in the song contest – Eurovision 2009. It is necessary to emphasize, that Azerbaijan has showed a great success in this competition, by outperforming its neighbours, and by landing in the third place.

As Azerbaijani Minister of Youth and Sport, authorized by the government for rendering of support to the project “Eurovision-Azerbaijan”, I would like to express my position regarding the situation of the so-called “list of 43”. A number of groundless attacks have appeared to the address of the country and, in particular, to the law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan in some Mass Media sources. It has been revealed during the investigation that, no specific list with the names of people voting for Armenia from Azerbaijan and the quantity of voices submitted for Armenia has ever existed in the hands of Azerbaijani authorities. Taking this into account, it is doubtful that somebody like R.Nasirov, called in for questioning by the law enforcement agencies, could see such voting list. Why noone else, but R.Nasirov has been called in for questioning to the Ministry of National Security?

Any insinuations around the so-called "the list of 43" are nothing else, but a fruit of imagination of some unscrpulous journalists. We are afflicted with the fact that, some news agencies, in particular, such as Azerbaijan branch of "Radio Liberty", actively conducts a unilateral policy in the given question, by trying to politicize the issue and to present it in a politically biased manner. This position by "Radio Liberty", which repeatedly allowed "double standards" in regards to Azerbaijan, in particular a propos the territorial integrity of the country, causes bewilderment in us.

I am sure that mass media should not politicize this question, instead try to study the situation more deeply, to express the positions of all the parties."

/Day.Az/