Reports in several foreign media outlets naming Azerbaijan in connection with an investigation involving former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning are disinformation and part of an intensive smear campaign against Azerbaijan in recent months, the Media and Broadcasting Council said.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the council made the statement in a release.
The council said it was seriously concerned that unfounded claims linking Azerbaijan to the investigation had been presented to a wide audience as fact. The allegations were first reported by Germany’s “Der Spiegel” and later repeated by “Reuters,” “AFP,” “France 24,” “The Times,” “The Telegraph” and other international media outlets. Publishing such reports without citing an official source amounts to unacceptable information manipulation, it said:
“The malicious aim of those behind this disinformation operation is to damage Azerbaijan-Germany relations, which have developed further in recent times.
The Media and Broadcasting Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan strongly condemns disinformation campaigns of this kind, which seek to portray Azerbaijan negatively in the international information space without grounds. It calls on international media outlets to strictly adhere to the core principles of professional journalism, including accuracy, objectivity, reliance on credible sources and verification of information, and to refrain from spreading false information or manipulating public opinion.”
