Azernews.Az

BAKU – President Ilham Aliyev has accused outside forces of pursuing a campaign aiming to sully Azerbaijan.

"A number of circles at times pursue a campaign of libel and slander against Azerbaijan, and there are reasons for that," President Aliyev told the ceremony of awarding him the Friend of Journalists title by the Azerbaijan Committee for the Protection of Journalists, RUH.

Aliyev said that some reports concerning Azerbaijan are published amid key developments in the region.

"The main reason of the libel campaign is that our country is pursuing an independent policy and is not at someone’s beck and call. Some forces’ lack of leverage [of influence] in the country slides them into such filthy ways. And our response to all libelous forces is that we will not go astray from our strategic path. The more pressure we face, the more determined we are."

Aliyev further spoke about Azerbaijan’s two-decade-long conflict with Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh. He said that Azerbaijan was losing "the information war" to Armenia in the early years of its independence, but is now more successful.

"I can say with full confidence today that we are winning our struggle with Armenia and the Armenian lobby. Their nervousness and hysteria show that. Both the media and the increased number of Azerbaijan’s friends in the world are playing a role in this. Azerbaijan is now pursuing an attack diplomacy. We have resources available for this.

"The information struggle is a priority issue for us, and we have to avail of all present-day means in this area to the fullest," the Azerbaijani leader said.