Azerbaijani president’s EP remarks spark reaction in Georgian media

Georgian media have widely covered Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s views on the activities and position of the European Parliament (EP), expressed on September 15 during a meeting with participants of international conferences in Baku.

Leading Georgian television channels and news portals actively quoted Aliyev's remarks concerning the Council of Europe and the EP in their reports and video materials, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

The Imedi TV news portal headlined its report with Aliyev’s words: “As a member of the Council of Europe, we faced these injustices, we face them and we likely will face them.”

Imedi also highlighted the president’s remarks that Azerbaijan is one of the few Muslim countries active in European organisations and that he is well aware of the processes taking place within these institutions.

Another statement by Aliyev that drew the attention of Georgian media was his strong criticism of the EP. Imedi, 1TV, Rustavi 2, NewsHub and other news outlets used the Azerbaijani president’s remark, “The European Parliament is a nest of corrupt figures,” in their headlines.

The reports noted that, in explaining his position, Aliyev referred to a corruption scandal in the EP and criticised the institution’s response to the affair.

In its report, 1TV noted that Aliyev recalled the corruption scandal involving the European Parliament and criticised the institution’s stance towards Armenia’s occupation policy against Azerbaijan.

Thus, the Azerbaijani president’s remarks in Baku were presented to a wide audience across various media platforms in Georgia, both in written reports and video formats.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov