BAKU (RFE/RL)–Reporters sans Frontieres on Jan. 6 wrote to Azeri President Gaidar Aliyev to express concern at Azeri Foreign Minister Hasan Hasanov’s criticism of the independent news agency Turan. Hasanov had claimed on Dec. 22–1997–that Turan’s coverage of Armenian Foreign Minister Alexander Arzoumanian’s speech at the Dec. 18-19–1997–Copenhagen meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe constituted "anti- government activities." Hasanov subsequently accused Turan of disseminating false information about the meeting.
On Dec. 23–1997–Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Tofik Zulfugarov threatened to bar Turan employees from entering the ministry building.