Growing confidence in Azerbaijan worries some int’l circles, says political analyst
The decision to hold the first ever European Games in Azerbaijan
shows the country’s authority on international arena, said Arzu
Naghiyev, the deputy director general at the Trend news agency and
political analyst.
He made the remarks at a roundtable meeting dedicated to the Baku
2015 European Games, which was attended by heads of the influential
human rights organizations of Azerbaijan.
“The holding of the first ever European Games in a Muslim country
tells of the authority of Azerbaijan,” said Naghiyev, adding that
of course such confidence towards Azerbaijan worries some
international circles.
"Thus, as the beginning of the Games is approaching, the campaign
of discrediting Azerbaijan intensified,” he said. “The attempts are
made to cast a shadow on these games. However, despite all this,
more than 6,000 athletes will take part in these games, hundreds of
thousands of tourists and tens of thousands of volunteers will join
them."
“The circles, leading a campaign to discredit Azerbaijan, are
making the statements that the human rights, freedom of speech are
allegedly violated in the country,” he said. “These circles’
statements are just a pretext.”
"A free society was formed in Azerbaijan long ago,” he said. “The
free activity of a large number of the press organizations was
ensured. There are no restrictions on using the Internet and social
networks.”
“In such circumstances, the use of such arguments to accuse
Azerbaijan is absolutely groundless,” Naghiyev said.
He said that such attempts, as always, will not yield any results.
“Azerbaijan is an independent and strong country, and it is
impossible to provoke it by such absurd accusations,” he said.
He recalled the London Olympics, reminding that some 4,000
complaints have been received before the Olympics, various rallies
and protests were organized, however despite that, the Olympics
were organized at a high level.
Talking about the advantages of the European Games for Azerbaijan,
he said that these Games are a large-scale event of international
significance. He added that the main purpose is to improve the
country’s reputation and popularize it on the international
arena.
He also gave an example of how the holding of major events turns to
be useful for a country.
“Before, 1992, that’s to say, before hosting the Summer Olympic
Games, Barcelona was not so well-known,” he said. “However,
following the Olympics, Barcelona turned into a large world sports
center and the most expensive sports clubs are now located
there.”
A round table dedicated to the First European Games was held at the
initiative of influential human rights organizations of Azerbaijan
and with information support of Trend Agency.
The round table was attended by the heads of humans rights
organizations holding various positions, including, the heads of
Azerbaijan Foundation for Democracy Development and Human Rights
Protection, Oil Workers' Rights Protection Organization, Society
for Humanitarian Research in Azerbaijan, Human Rights Center of
Azerbaijan and Legal Assistance Public Union.
The appeal adopted following the discussions condemned the campaign
to discredit Azerbaijan on the eve of the First European Games.
Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and
innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take
place on June 12-28, 2015.
There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports
and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across
Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of
competition.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC)
in December 2012.
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