Late in the evening on Wednesday, access to all news websites belonging to the APA holding (agency) of Azerbaijan was closed, reported Contact.az.

The official explanation for this, as well as the APA management's commentary, is still unavailable.

The phones of agency employees either do not answer or are switched off.

But journalistic circles unofficially speak about a secret directive handed down by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, who has decided to punish APA for a provocative statement attributed to him.

“We will bring Armenia to its knees.” This was noted in APA’s Russian-language news website, citing Aliyev’s speech during the ceremony of awarding apartments and cars to those Azerbaijanis who had become disabled in the Karabakh War and the Chernobyl disaster.

Even though the agency admitted that it had distorted Aliyev’s remarks and apologized, all the APA websites are still blocked.

In all likelihood, the resumption of the agency’s activities depends on the results of the investigation.