Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev accused an American-based non-profit of allegedly plotting a “coup d’etat” and multiple major news outlets of publishing “anti-Azerbaijani propaganda,” according to a press conference Thursday.
Speaking at a “Facing the New World Order” forum April 9 at ADA University in the capital of Baku, Aliyev accused the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of paying for the apartments of “opposition activists” in the nation. He also accused The Washington Post and the New York Times, along with French outlets Le Figaro and Le Monde, of being “fake news,” echoing President Donald Trump’s characterization of the media.
“We actually did not fully control the financial flows of these funds, and that was the reason why such notorious institutions like the National Democratic Institute (NDI) were actually plotting a coup d’état here,” Aliyev said during the forum. “It was detected. We traced more than 1 million US dollars from a bank account, which was cashed out, and then we found part of that money in rented apartments of opposition activists, together with Molotov cocktails and instructions on how to attack government buildings, how to attack policemen.”
The Azerbaijani president also claimed that, following the end of President Joe Biden’s term, news outlets “stopped publishing all the ugly articles about Azerbaijan.” He also claimed that the source of the articles were from the State Department.
So far, Aliyev has not produced concrete evidence to support his charges.
He also attacked the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID), which he called a “completely corrupt structure,” while also attacking other international nonprofits.
“But it’s not enough. You should go deeper,” Aliyev said. “Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, Transparency International – all this infrastructure of his political enemies must be totally rendered dysfunctional.”
Aliyev also said he would provide U.S. law enforcement agencies with “all the information about the illegal, destructive activities of Mr. Trump’s predecessors,” specifically citing “illegal activities” of some embassy workers.
The Trump administration sent a letter to Aliyev on April 10 reaffirming the two nations’ diplomatic relations.
“Our countries have a long history of working together, and I look forward to the great things we can accomplish in the years to come,” Trump said in the letter. “I appreciate Azerbaijan’s support and friendship for our partner Israel and applaud the steps you and Armenia are taking to bring peace to the region.”
The Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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