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Media

BBC's Azerbaijani Representation's activities in the country are illegal

29 October 2025 21:05 (UTC +04:00)

There are reports that employees of the former BBC representative office, whose activities were suspended in Azerbaijan, continue their journalistic activities in the country, even address inquiries to various organizations and conduct investigations.

In response to APA's inquiry, the Legal Department of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan stated that, according to the Law "On Media", branches and representative offices of foreign media entities in the Republic of Azerbaijan are opened in cases provided for in international agreements to which our country is a party.

"If a representative office of any foreign media entity carries out media activities without such an agreement, this constitutes a basis for the liquidation of that representative office.

At the same time, foreign media representatives must be accredited by the relevant body in order to operate in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

"With regard to the activities of the BBC representation, we should note that since there is no international agreement that provides for the operation of that entity in Azerbaijan, the representation was liquidated by the relevant authorities and removed from the state register of legal entities, and the accreditation of its employees was also revoked. This means that currently there is no legal basis for the activities of the BBC representation in Azerbaijan, and consequently, since the relevant representation is not considered a media entity under national legislation and its employees do not have accreditation, the activities of those persons in this area are a serious violation of the law, and do not create any obligations for the individuals and legal entities and organizations to which this activity is directed, but on the contrary, give those structures the right to demand the cessation of illegal activities," the agency's response noted.