Ali Hasanov: It’s wrong to compare foreign grants with Azerbaijani president’s support to media

Ali Hasanov: It’s wrong to compare foreign grants with Azerbaijani president’s support to media
# 30 January 2018 09:18 (UTC +04:00)

It is regrettable that some claim Azerbaijan’s media policy has fallen through, Azerbaijani President’s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov said.

He made the remarks addressing a ceremony of presenting keys of new apartments to journalists in Baku on Jan. 30, APA reports.

Hasanov stressed that well-known representatives of the grant media in Europe have gathered to carry out “No-TAP” campaigns.

“This is the type of journalist those carrying out grant policy wish to form in Azerbaijan,” he said.

The Azerbaijani media are based upon sound foundations, noted the official.

“The media should in the first place provide information to people and enlighten them, giving them a sense of patriotism. Those who say that Azerbaijan’s media policy has fallen through should think if there is any administrative body censoring the media. There is the Press Council that is regulatory body for Azerbaijani journalists,” he said.

Hasanov mentioned that journalists are free to accept or renounce the apartments offered to them by the Azerbaijani government.

“But it’s wrong to claim that the state’s media policy restricts the independence of journalists. On the contrary, the attempts of those who are trying to form media through a policy of grant allocation pose a threat to the independence of journalists,” he said.

The official went on to say that the state support for printed media is aimed at stimulating their activities in the current difficult situation.

“Printed media write a historical chronicle of the country. It’s impossible to write this chronicle through some Internet media,” he said.

The official noted that it is incorrect to compare media grants allocated by foreign agents in their offices with the financial support provided to the media by President Ilham Aliyev.

“Grant media representatives oppose TAP, TANAP, but these projects are related to Azerbaijan's strategic interests. Let those people know what kinds of reactions they will receive from the Azerbaijani society,” he added.

Hasanov stated that journalists are friends of President Ilham Aliyev. He also expressed his confidence that journalists will support President Ilham Aliyev in the upcoming election.

#
#

THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED