Reaction in Azerbaijan to the claims published in Der Spiegel and other Western media

The information being disseminated by a number of foreign media outlets mentioning Azerbaijan in connection with the investigation into former head of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning is disinformational in nature and is part of a recent campaign to smear Azerbaijan.

This was stated in a declaration by the Media and Broadcasting Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

"It is a matter of serious concern that unfounded claims linking Azerbaijan to the said investigation, initially disseminated by the German publication Der Spiegel as the primary source and subsequently reproduced by Reuters, AFP, France 24, The Times, The Telegraph, and other international media outlets, are being presented to a wide audience as fact.

The publication of such materials without reference to an official source and their further dissemination are regarded as an inadmissible information manipulation. The aim of the forces behind this disinformation operation is to damage Azerbaijani-German relations, which have recently undergone further development.

The Media and Broadcasting Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan strongly condemns such disinformation campaigns aimed at the unfounded portrayal of Azerbaijan in a negative context in the international information space.

The Council calls on international media outlets to strictly adhere to the fundamental principles of professional journalism, including accuracy, objectivity, the use of reliable sources, and fact-checking, as well as to prevent the dissemination of false information and the manipulation of public opinion," the statement reads.