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Azerbaijan Press Council restructures language commission -PHOTO

09 January 2026 17:03 (UTC +04:00)

Today, the Press Council of Azerbaijan (PC) held the first meeting of its Board in 2026, APA reports.

Press Council Chairman Rashad Majid said that in his speech at the meeting dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences on November 3 last year, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the importance of protecting the mother tongue.

Rashad Majid recalled that on November 7, the institution he leads held a conference titled “Correct Application of the Norms of the Azerbaijani Literary Language in the Media” jointly with the Media Development Agency.

According to the Chairman, the Agency prepared a summary of the conference, and this document carries the significance of an appeal related to the protection of the mother tongue, while also serving as an example of a systematic approach to the parameters of future work.

Rashad Majid noted that at the last Board meeting of the Press Council held in 2025, issues arising from President Ilham Aliyev’s remarks were also discussed, and accordingly, the composition of the Press Council’s Language Commission was restructured.

The Chair of the Commission was elected as Board member and CEO of APA Media Group, Vusala Mahirgizi. It was deemed appropriate for the Commission to include other Board members as well: Editor-in-Chief of “Xalq Qəzeti” Aflatun Amashov, Professor of Baku State University Gulu Maharramli, Editor-in-Chief of “Sharq” newspaper Akif Ashirli, as well as member of the Council’s Audit Commission and Editor-in-Chief of “Veten Sesi” newspaper Elshan Aliyev, Head of the Press Council of Senior Journalists and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of “Xalq Qəzeti” Tahir Aydinoglu, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of “525-ci qəzet” Seyfeddin Huseynli.

The Press Council Chairman emphasized that a broader discussion of President Ilham Aliyev’s statements would be held at today’s expanded meeting of the Language Commission, and concrete areas of activity would be identified.

Speaking at the Council meeting, Chair of the Language Commission and CEO of APA Media Group Vusala Mahirgizi proposed holding Azerbaijani language training sessions for journalists jointly with the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, the Press Council, and the Language Commission.

Vusala Mahirgizi noted that there are problems with adherence to language norms in the media.

“There are serious problems in writing direct and indirect speech, using punctuation marks, particles, conjunctions, and subordinate and coordinate clauses. One of the Commission’s tasks is to organize educational training sessions for journalists, and even editors. Separate trainings should be organized for editors, presenters, and print media journalists,” the CEO of APA Media Group stressed.

Deputy Executive Director of the Media Development Agency, Natig Mammadli, said that there are problems related to the Azerbaijani language in online media. He added that awareness-raising activities for the development of the Azerbaijani language should be continuous: “Azerbaijani journalism has gone through a very long and difficult path. If our goal is awareness, we must carry out continuous activities.”

Professor of Baku State University, Gulu Maharramli, drew attention to the many problems of the language: “One must write and speak Azerbaijani well. For that, one must know the rules of the language. Punctuation marks are not fixed in any language, but there are certain rules. The use of punctuation must be correct. In addition, the use of unnecessarily borrowed words is wrong. There are few teaching materials, and those that exist are not promoted. Problems related to orthoepy are serious. We must work closely with the Institute of Linguistics and the Academy of Sciences. The use of unnecessarily borrowed words is wrong.”

Professor Tofig Hajiyev said that there are serious problems in the use of commas in the media: “Commas are placed before and after conjunctions. This is completely wrong. A comma separates a sentence; a conjunction connects it. In Azerbaijani, everyone writes however they want. There are even academics who speak in dialect. Some People’s Poets cannot speak the literary language.”

After the discussions, the membership of the Commission was also approved for Professor Tofig Hajiyev (Tofig Muzaffaroghlu), Head of the “Modern Azerbaijani Language” Department at the Faculty of Philology of Baku State University; Associate Professor Rasim Heydarov, Head of the Education Department at the Nasimi Institute of Linguistics of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences; Honored Artist and well-known TV host Nargiz Jalilova; and ITV TV channel presenter Vusala Mammadova.

In addition, APA Information Agency editor Nadir Yalchin was elected as the Commission’s secretary.

Thus, the Press Council’s Language Commission was formed with a total of 12 members, consisting of Chair Vusala Mahirgizi, Deputy Chair Seyfaddin Huseynli, and Secretary Nadir Yalchin.