Azerbaijan's president on Wednesday dismissed opposition complaints about actions taken against the media, saying his adversaries were "artificially politicising" the government's actions, according to Reuters. "There is freedom of speech and the press in Azerbaijan and no one should have any doubts about that," said 44-year-old Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father as president of the oil producing ex-Soviet state. "The opposition is artificially politicising a technical issue like moving the Azadlyq newspaper to a new office, and is trying to present it as if the authorities in Azerbaijan are trying to suffocate the free press." Last week regulators took ANS radio and television station off the air for not having a license and forced the Popular Front opposition party and the affiliated Azadlyq newspaper to vacate the offices they shared. Aliyev's opponents said the twin-pronged operation was intended to silence the last strongholds of dissent in a country where the opposition is already marginalised and large sections of the media are under state control. They said Aliyev feels he has a free hand to crack down on opposition because the West -- hungry for his country's growing oil and gas exports -- does not dare to challenge him. The Council of Europe, a European rights watchdog, said on Wednesday it had asked the government to clarify its position. "We are worried by the closure of ANS and the moving of the Azadlyq newspaper," said Denis Bribosia, head of the Council of Europe's field office in Azerbaijan. "When Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe it committed to ensure media freedom ... and it needs to stick to that," Bribosia said through a translator. In an interview with state television, Aliyev said ANS could go back on air if it met the demands of the media regulator. He said the Popular Front and Azadlyq had been offered other premises, though they say the offices are not suitable. Another opposition grouping, the Democratic Party, told Reuters on Monday officials had initiated legal proceedings to have it evicted from its headquarters. The building is being used as a temporary office by evicted party workers from the Popular Front.
