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KHOJALY: Falsification by dana mazalova
Falsifications on Khojaly issue.
Dana Mazalova and the interview of Ayaz Mutalibov
 Trying
to shift the blame for the Khojaly tragedy on Azerbaijanis, the Armenian side
frequently refers to the interview of the first President of Azerbaijan Ayaz
Mutalibov to a Czech reporter Dana Mazalova. It was published on April 2nd in
1992 in the Russian newspaper “Nezavisimaya gazeta”.
According to the Armenian side, in the interview Ayaz Mutalibov claimed that
“The National Front of Azerbaijan (a political party, opposing Mutalibov at
the time) was the one to be blamed for the Khodjaly tragedy”.
Experts and journalists, however, agree on the opinion that Ayaz Mutalibov
could make such a statement to absolve him of the responsibility for not having
ensured the proper defense of the town as the Commander-in-chief. A British
reporter, Thomas de Waal wrote regarding the interview: «The exculpatory
interview of the ex-president Ayaz Mutalibov,was of no use. In an attempt to
understate his role in the inability to defense the town, Mutalibov laid the
blame for the Khodjaly massacre upon the National Front Command.”
The interview, nonetheless, is disputed even nowadays. Mutalibov was
perturbed at his words being misrepresented and distorted by Dana Mazalova when
published. In this regard, particularly, he said: «The history of the claims
on the Azerbaijani lands is full of bloody pages, and the Khodjaly massacre is
one of them. Some Armenian characters should not have played on the frame-ups of
certain reporters in a rush for a sensation or distorted my words for the reason
unknown, with a “reference” to me that a massacre was committed by Azerbaijanis
themselves just in order to get a trump card.”
Responding the charges by Mutalibov, Dana Mazalova said she had an audio
recording of the interview. However, in spite of the statement about the
audiotape made in 2010 (18 years later), she has submitted nothing yet. Even if
the ex-president lied and had used the phrases imputed on him by Dana Mazalova
in his interview, she could have presented the alleged tape to disprove him. But
as mentioned above, Dana Mazalova fails to submit any evidence.
To complete the picture, the personality of Dana Mazalova should be
considered, in particular.
 Dana
Mazalova, a Czech journalist, visited Erevan first in 1982, saying
afterwards, she “had fallen in love” with Armenia. Became widely known after a
number of aggressive anti-Azerbaijani articles in a Kharkov newspaper “Oriyentir
DiP” and some other editions in 1991.
She has actively popularized in her articles the idea of Armenians being
cruelly expelled from the Nagorno-Karabakh by the Azerbaijani government but it
was never backed up by any evidence. Mazalova also claimes to have accompanied
Chingiz Mustafayev during his first flight to the scene of the Khodjaly tragedy.
HWR activists, however, state that it was a French reporter Jean-Yves Junet to
have flewn with Mustafayev. After the Khodjaly events she published a notorious
interview with Ayaz Mutalibov in the “Nezavisimaya gazeta”.When dismissed from
the Czech television, she was actively backed up by the Armenian diaspora in the
Czech Republic with Akop Asatryan, the editor-in-chief of the OPEP
(Prague) magazine, at the head. She has cooperated with Armenia and the Armenian
diaspora in the following years, as well, and published reports covering the
Armenian attitude in the Karabakh war in Czech editions. Author of the
documentary “A land under Ararat” about the earthquake in Armenia in 1988. Takes
part in the events devoted to calling the Czech government to admit the genocide
of Armenians in Turkey. A frequent speaker of seminars and conferences on the
Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict held in the Eastern Europe. In February, 2010,
failed to disrupt the event devoted to the Khodjaly tragedy held in a Czech town
of Lidice. Though referred to as a “famous Czech reporter”, Dana Mazalova
is obviously known only within the Armenian diaspora circle. She is much
more recognized in Armenia, rather than in the Czech Republic.
Apart from the contestable interview with Ayaz Mutalibov, Dana has also put
forward a number of controversial statements. According to some of them, in
particular, a Russian correspondent Viktoriya Ivleva was there at Khodjaly
during the assault and escaped through the humanitarian corridor together with
other refugees.
Viktoriya Ivleva, a Russian journalist, responded on that regard:
"The name of Dana Mazalova tells me nothing, and I don’t know whether she has
been paid for or not by Armenians. This Mazalova lies and therefore, will never
be allowed to enter Azerbaijan, but I have a permit to visit both Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Mazalova slanders me for allegedly being at Khodjaly and fleeing the
town with the inhabitants through the “escape route” provided by the Armenian
armed units. I always do my job honestly and never respond to people like Dana
Mazalova – as the saying is, “The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on”.
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