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Ambassador Gurbanov's assertion (Letters, 20 May) that I have "in the past stoutly defended the wisdom of President Ilham Aliyev's 'diligent balance' in his leadership of our country – notably in a contribution to our National Diplomatic Academy's school of international affairs publication" is a distortion of the facts. In the article cited by Mr Gurbanov, I have used the words "diligent balance" inside quotation marks and have not passed any value judgment on the character of the Aliyev regime. Moreover, if Mr Gurbanov is surprised by the apparent lack of criticism in that article, he should ponder the role that his government's increasing assaults on the political freedoms of its citizens could have played in transforming my views over the past two years.
Aslan Amani
London
