ISTANBUL 

Azerbaijan announced Tuesday that it summoned the envoys of the US, Germany and France for what it defined as supporting the “illegal financing operations” of a local media outlet.

The Foreign Ministry said the meeting addressed Baku’s “serious objection” to the “illegal financial operations” of the Abzas Media online news portal with the participation of organizations it said are registered in the US, Germany and France, as well as the involvement of the embassies of the mentioned countries.

It said the meeting noted organizations such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), FreedomNow and the New Democracy Fund have “illegally transferred financial resources” to the country and are contributing to the activities of Abzas Media.

Noting that the financing of local media by "individuals or legal entities of foreign countries," in addition to "state institutions of foreign countries," is not allowed based on Azerbaijani law, the statement said the actions of the US, German and French embassies and their organizations violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“The Azerbaijani side strongly condemned this activity, which is against the legislation of our country and aims to interfere in the internal affairs of the country, and it was brought to the attention that it reserves the right to take appropriate measures in accordance with the national legislation regarding the mentioned facts,” it said.​​​​​​​