Russian MFA’s statement on Sputnik agency's activity in Azerbaijan sparks suspicion of double talk

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Sputnik radio that there have been no complaints against the Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency within Azerbaijan.

She emphasised that the media outlet has operated for many years with a staff composed mostly of Azerbaijani and Russian citizens.

Zakharova said: “I would like to point out that this media outlet has been operating for many years, with most of its staff being Azerbaijani citizens, as well as citizens of the Russian Federation, and the Azerbaijani side has never had any complaints about this media outlet, either in form or content.”

Zakharova also underscored the importance of friendly relations between Russia and Azerbaijan and issued a warning to those who might seek to damage these ties. “There are many who want to simply ‘make a good hand’ on this, but let them not get burned. Because, for us, I think for both nations, friendly relations are extremely important. And those who want to spoil them should think carefully about what they are doing,” she said.

However, from Azerbaijan’s perspective, Zakharova’s statement appears disingenuous. In February of this year, Caliber.Az received exclusive information from reliable sources revealing that Azerbaijan had decided to make certain adjustments to the actual operations of foreign media representatives and their branches in the country.

These changes specifically affected the publication Sputnik Azerbaijan. To address an imbalance in the representation of Azerbaijani and Russian state news agencies in each other’s countries, it was decided that Sputnik Azerbaijan would continue to operate in Azerbaijan with only one correspondent. The correspondent’s activities would be regulated in accordance with Azerbaijani law and the January 9, 2001, agreement between the governments of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the status of media correspondents.

Furthermore, on June 30, based on operational intelligence indicating that Sputnik Azerbaijan continued its activities despite the suspension of its accreditation and was allegedly operating through illegal financing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan launched an investigation. This investigation led to the detention of several individuals.

By Tamilla Hasanova