The media controlled by the Armenian lobby distorted the essence of the conflict, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview to editor-in-chief of Russian influential “Natsionalnaya oborona” magazine, well-known military expert Igor Korotchenko, Trend reports.

“From the very first days of hostilities, there was an increased interest in the conflict in the world media – from Russian, Western and neighboring countries. And I gave consent to all the requests, because I thought it was necessary to communicate truth about the situation to the attention of the public of as many countries as possible: what is happening, what are the causes of the conflict, who is the occupier and who is the victim of the occupation. Because for decades, Armenian propaganda, which is quite effective in many countries, and diaspora organizations had been creating a false picture of the conflict. After all, even we you look at the outbreak of hostilities and the decisions that were made by some countries, they simply defy any logic. While it was Azerbaijani territory that was occupied, the US Congress passed the notorious amendment to the Freedom Support Act, Section No. 907, which deprived Azerbaijan of direct military assistance, direct US assistance, not only military. And we, the affected country, were essentially discriminated against. And the reason for this amendment, which was adopted, by the way, largely by subsequent leaders of the United States who held and are still holding high positions in the administration, the rationale behind it was that Azerbaijan was blocking Armenia. Just imagine - Zangilan, Gubadli, Lachin and Kalbajar districts are occupied. And this is described as a blockade of Armenia. In other words, I mean that diaspora organizations and also the media controlled by the Armenian lobby distorted the essence of the conflict. The fact that Armenia is an aggressor, an occupier which committed ethnic cleansing and an act of genocide in Khojaly, destroyed all historical and cultural buildings – all this was concealed. And we were portrayed as some kind of a monster, as a totalitarian and authoritarian country. The Washington Post, the New York Post, Figaro or other media of the US, France, Germany and many other countries referred to us only as the dictatorial regime of Aliyev. And thus, the power of the Armenian diaspora, which is much more powerful than the government of the Republic of Armenia, created such a background and gave the message that the Armenian population cannot feel safe in such a dictatorial country, although Azerbaijan is a multinational, multi-confessional country and everyone here lives in peace and harmony. And this is why, as it were, Nagorno-Karabakh should secede and Nagorno-Karabakh should have an independent status.

This is the plot around which all this was formed, and, of course, it was very difficult for us, with incomparably smaller media resources in comparison with the Armenian government around the world, to tell the truth. The conflict caught the attention of the media, and I used this opportunity to communicate the truth about what was happening. Everything I said is supported with documentary evidence. I did not say a single word that would not correspond to the historical truth or to what was happening on the battlefield every day. The Armenian side lied to its people, lied to the world community about what was happening during the war and what was happening before that. This is why, of course, I think that their theses were unconvincing in the first place and they have discredited themselves, whereas we were able to communicate the truth about what happened. By the way, I am grateful to “Russia” TV channel for organizing the broadcast in which we could express our position on the air in a live format. When there is such a level playing field, whether on the battlefield or in the information space, the Armenian side could not have a single chance, of course,” the head of state said.

Trend.az