Ahmad Ismayilov: 'Azerbaijani media has entered stage of new reforms'

Azerbaijan's media has entered a new stage of reforms for some time to adapt to modern challenges and respond more swiftly, the Executive Director of the Media Development Agency, Ahmad Ismayilov, said today at the 1st Meeting of Audiovisual Media Regulatory Bodies of the member and observer states of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Baku, Report informs.

According to him, the digital media space, which has become a new trend of the modern world, is expanding day by day and is showing its influence on the national information environment of the countries. The information exchange process, which is happening at high speed in the globalized world, covers almost all countries.

"On January 12, 2021, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed the Decree 'On the deepening of reforms in the field of media in the Republic of Azerbaijan" and thus a new stage of fundamental changes in the field of media began. The Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, established according to that Decree, is implementing a strategy aimed at the continuous development of media entities. As one of the main goals of the agency's activity, it constantly keeps in mind the issue of ensuring the economic independence of media subjects, and for this purpose, it conducts relevant analyzes and researches, as well as the application of modern information and communication technologies, innovations that open up new opportunities in international information exchange, and the provision of information security of citizens, society and the state," he said.

Ismayilov emphasized that on July 22 of this year, for the first time in the history of the independent statehood of Azerbaijan, representatives of the media of Azerbaijan celebrated their professional holidays by holding the International Media Forum in the city of Shusha, the crown of Karabakh, which has a special place in the development of Azerbaijan's national media, the cultural capital of the country:

“At the International Media Forum held in Shusha, we exchanged views on all current issues of the modern media environment with representatives of foreign media and experts from about 20 countries and representatives of international media organizations. In the address to the journalists of Azerbaijan by Mr. President Ilham Aliyev, it was emphasized that during the Patriotic War, the Azerbaijani media played a great role in preventing mass disinformation attacks and providing prompt and correct information to our society by fighting on the information front. The integration of Azerbaijani media into the international information space is of greater importance against the background of the realities of our world. Today, there is a joint media platform between Azerbaijan and Turkiye.

The goal of our Joint Media Platform is to create a strategic media partnership by strengthening Azerbaijan-Turkiye bilateral relations and cooperation in the field of media and communication. In this direction, our main activity is to correctly convey the truth about our countries to the world community in the international media. It is noteworthy that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Information and Mass Communications Agency under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan within the framework of the visit of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the Republic of Uzbekistan in June of this year. Also, the "Memorandum of Understanding between the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Information and Public Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was signed in August 2022, within the framework of the official visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Azerbaijan. Within the framework of the memorandums of understanding we have signed with these fraternal republics, which are members of the Organization of Turkic States, it is envisaged to form bilateral cooperation mechanisms aimed at the joint promotion and protection of national interests in the media space, to expand the exchange of experience, including the creation of mutual relations in the media field. In addition, within the framework of numerous projects implemented in various directions, MEDIA Agency was able to establish reliable cooperation relations with prestigious local and international institutions such as ADA University, Al Jazeera, Haber Global, Turkish Cooperation Coordination Agency, and Anadolu Agency. We need solidarity among the journalists of the whole Turkic World to convey the truth about our countries to the international audience. If our media subjects fulfill their professional mission with a single ideology at all levels, our voices will be stronger and will be heard more clearly. We believe that the relations of the Turkic world, which are strengthened by the idea of ​​unity, solidarity and cooperation, will continue successfully in the media field as well. In order to provide the world with objective information about the Turkic world, we must increase our professionalism and vigilance and strengthen our unity.”