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Samed Seyidov: â€œThere are all conditions for free media in Azerbaijanâ€

27 January 2010 21:02 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli â€“ APA. Today Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe (PACE) held the Plenary Session. During the session the attendees had hearings the report, drawn up by the British member of PACE Mr. Andrew McIntosh, on series of measures to guarantee greater respect for media freedom â€“ number 12102.
APA correspondent in Strasbourg reports that head of Azerbaijani delegation in PACE, member of the parliament Samed Seyidov made a speech concerning this subject.
S. Seyidov said that in the report some items related to journalistsâ€™ activity in Azerbaijan are not objective: â€œMy Armenian colleague in his speech cites the instances about media state only from Azerbaijan. It points out that Armenian representatives still try to veil the events occurring in their country, and look for this problem in other countries. Of course, some problems still exist, however, for the recent years many important steps have been taken to develop both media and freedom of speech in Azerbaijan. Today more than 3500 newspapers, 30 information agencies, and 44 e-news agencies operate in Azerbaijanâ€. S. Seyidov also noted that 7 televisions broadcast throughout Azerbaijan.
Touching upon the internet-related issues, Head of the delegation Miklos Haraszti pointed out that the internet rates had been decreased: â€œIt facilitates more and more people to get information via e-media. Presently, Azerbaijan, in conjunction with OSCE, Council of Europe, and other international organizations, works on the project targeted to development this field. The government has established new foundation for improvement the mass media. For these purposes, 1.2 million manats have been assigned from the state budget. This is the result of attention drawn to mass mediaâ€.
S. Seyidov also pointed out to existence of opposition press in Azerbaijan, conditions for free activity of the media, and journalistsâ€™ freedom of speech.