Let’s say Baku doesn’t exist, but it does: Public Radio Director on the uproar over the incident

It is customary in all newsrooms to hang clocks showing the time in various cities. For instance, when it is stated that an event will take place in Singapore at a specific local time, it is always indicated so that the reporter working on location knows what time it is there. This was mentioned by Armen Koloyan, the acting director of Public Radio, in a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly, regarding the uproar caused by the removal of clocks showing the times in Baku and Ankara from the Public Radio building.

In response to the comment that this is a way to please official Baku, Koloyan said, “I am least concerned with what official Baku thinks about us.” When asked if he considered that there might be a backlash when hanging those clocks, Koloyan replied, “I truly didn’t think about it because at the ‘Freedom’ radio station, where I worked for 32 years, the flags of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and even the ones of Ukraine and Russia, who are at odds, were hung side by side. I view this as an overall approach. If we decide that Baku absolutely doesn’t exist, let’s close our eyes and say it doesn’t exist and that’s it. But it still does.”

He emphasized that he discussed with the team and they decided to remove the Baku clock. When asked if he considers Azerbaijan an enemy, the acting director of Public Radio declined to answer, noting that he does not comment on political issues: “If I say it is an enemy or not, that would be a political assessment. The executive director of Public Radio does not make political assessments.”