KHOJALY: Falsification by dana mazalova

Falsifications on Khojaly issue.
Dana Mazalova and the interview of Ayaz Mutalibov


аяз муталлибов, первый президент Азербайджана (нажмите для увеличения)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.

дана мазалова (нажмите для увеличения)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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