Baku – APA. President Ilham Aliyev has received board members of the Press Council on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the Azerbaijani national press.
Addressing the meeting, the head of state praised the activity of the Azerbaijani media.
The president said the abolition of censorship in Azerbaijan in 1998 gave an impetus to the establishment and development of an independent media, expressing satisfaction with the activity of the Press Council as a self-regulatory body.
Touching on the trends of non-professionalism in the media, the president said over the years the Azerbaijani media have become more professional, far from previously published unethical and abusive materials, and the media is mostly taking national position.
The president said the Press Council is protecting the rights of journalists and playing a role of bridge between the government and press.
Speaking about the criticism of the media, President Aliyev welcomed media’s criticizing various fields, noting that sometimes he learn about critical issues, shortcomings from media and gives instructions in this regard. “Media is one of my closest supporters in revealing problems.”
The president also touched on international relations of the media, noting that enhancement of the international relations of media is also important along with strengthening its material-technical base and professionalism.
As for internet media, President Aliyev said access to the Internet is free in Azerbaijan, welcoming internet media’s operating in more languages and having bureaus in more countries.
The Azerbaijani press should strengthen its activity to enforce the international relations of media, establish transnational relations as well as the relations with other countries’ media outlets, and to prevent the struggle of the Armenian Diaspora against Azerbaijan, President Aliyev emphasized. “This is one of the key media-related aspects.”
The head of state stressed the desirability of finding formats of cooperation with the world’s media outlets.
Then, Chairman of the Press Council Aflatun Amashov, Editor-in-chief of “Sherg” newspaper Akif Ashirli, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Fund of State Support for the Development of Mass Media under the President Umud Rahimoglu put various proposals during the meetingÅŸ
A. Amashov presented a special diploma of the Press Council to President Ilham Aliyev for his merits in protection of Azerbaijan’s national interests.
At the end of the meeting, the president awarded Aflatun Amashov and Umud Rahimoglu with the orders "For Service to Motherland" of the 3rd degree and Press Council board members Rauf Arifoglu and Azer Hasratli were presented the ranks of “Honored Journalist”.
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