Obama urges Aliev to free two jailed bloggers

US President Barack Obama has held a tough talk with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev within the 65th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Azadliq paper reported citing diplomatic sources. In particular, at the meeting with Aliev, Obama pointed at the part of his speech where he said of leaders of non-democratic regimes and described them as “enemies.” 

During the rare face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Barack Obama urged Ilham Aliyev to do a better job protecting human rights in his country.

A White House statement said Obama echoed the message he delivered to the UN General Assembly on September 23 and urged Aliyev to implement democratic reforms. Obama specifically appealed to Aliyev to free two bloggers, Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli, who criticized government and who are now serving jail sentences of more than two years.

“Obama expressed his hope that Azerbaijan as a young democracy would implement democratic reforms and increase protections for human rights, including by releasing two jailed bloggers,” said in the White House statement.