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Notizie Geopolitiche, an Italian news portal, responded to the Azerbaijani website Vesti.az, which had published an article accusing the Italian journalist Giuliano Bifolchi of having an interview with Karen Mirzoyan, the Foreign Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

“Vesti.az had no objection when we heard Azerbaijan’s position from the spokesperson of the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, and Ambassador Vagif Sadygov,” Enrico Oliari writes for Notizie Geopolitiche. He notes that after a thorough analysis of the complicated Karabakh issue, Giuliano Bifolchi wanted to objectively present his readers the various positions regarding the conflict.

In its article, the Azerbaijani website uses phrases like ‘some of our Italian colleagues have grown an unusual passion for the Armenian separatists,’ ‘spaghetti is one of the Italian’s favourite dishes, yet the “shoemakers” do not eat pasta with ears.’ The Italian portal notes that such phrases highlight the frivolity and lack of professionalism of the Vesti.az editorial board. Enrico Oliari notes that he does not consider the journalists of the Azerbaijani website to be his colleagues because of ‘their lack of collegiality.’

The author also refutes the supposition of the Azerbaijani website about bribing and points out that the journalist Giuliano Bifolchi has never taken money from anyone for his work and has acted within the freedom of press and information. Italy, unlike some countries, has no imprisoned journalists, Oliari adds.

In December 2015, Giuliano Bifolchi, an Italian researcher and journalist, interviewed the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan to understand the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and its reasons better, as well as to learn more about the independence of the NKR. During the interview, the NKR Foreign Minister highlighted that the rich history shared by the Armenians and Italians are far beyond any short-term economic interests. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the process of international recognition of the NKR will ensure the irreversibility of the peace process and the conditions for a peaceful coexistence of two independent, sovereign states, that is, Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Azerbaijani Republic. Further, the minister stressed that the Azerbaijani government tries to take advantage of every opportunity to divert the international attention from the violations of human rights, harassments of journalists and human rights defenders, as well as from a totalitarian regime ruling the country. According to him, the program of development and energy security, repeatedly stated by Azerbaijan, is nothing else than a red herring to force the West not to criticise the country.