13 November 2008, 16:15
US Ambassador to Azerbaijan hopes that foreign broadcasting will continue
The United States have already expressed their deep concern with the plans to stop broadcasting of foreign radio stations BBC, Voice of America and Radio Liberty in Azerbaijani local frequencies. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that this statement was made today by Ann Dears, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, in her comments on the situation with the issue.
In her opinion, broadcasting of the above stations in Azerbaijan can be viewed as one of the aims of mutual cooperation of the two states.
"Negotiations on the issue have already been held with the managers of respective agencies of Azerbaijan. We'd like to hope that the authorities of Azerbaijan understand our position and the importance of continued broadcasting of these radio stations," Ms Ambassador has stated.
She has noted that Azerbaijani citizens are also asking to continue broadcasting of the western radio stations. "The people understand quite well that the broadcasting is an impetus for the country's progress," Ann Dears said. She has expressed her hope that the stations will go on broadcasting and contributing to development of Azerbaijani mass media.
Author: Faik Medzhid, CK correspondent