“The Azerbaijani Press, founded in 1875, has passed a great and glorious historical path and has risen to its current level. Over the past 149 years, prominent representatives of this field have conscientiously treated their professions, adequately fulfilled their duties and rendered great services to our people tirelessly, despite all the pressure and obstacles. In general, the establishment of the newspaper “Ekinchi”, which is considered the beginning of our national press, was a significant and historical event in the socio-political life of Azerbaijan and made an unprecedented contribution to the formation and development of our press. True, the newspaper lived a short life, only 56 numbers were published, but under the leadership of the progressive intellectual and enlightener-publicist Hasan Bey Zardabi, it achieved historical success in the direction of enlightenment of our people, awareness of socio-political processes, as well as the formation of democratic thinking and national identity in them”.
Chairman of Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation (ATUC), deputy of the Milli Majlis of the VI convocation Sattar Mohbaliyev said in his statement to the mass media.
According to him, dozens of newspapers and magazines that started to be published after “Akinçi”, which laid the foundation of a great tradition and became an example, did important work in the development of society: “Thus, in national self-awareness, in the awakening movement, in the creation and strengthening of unity and solidarity among the people, as well as also played an exceptional role in the development of a large army of intellectuals. With the articles they published, well-known writers tried to develop artistic ideas and promote our mother tongue more widely. In particular, the press of that period became an important tool for the recognition of scientists and representatives of literature in society, and for the promotion of their works and ideas. It should not be forgotten that in 1918, our national press played an undeniable role in the establishment of our independent state. Our thinkers, who fought resolutely for the success of independence, conveyed to the people the importance of living free and having an independent state through the media. As a result of the work done in this direction and the tireless struggle, the people of Azerbaijan managed to create a democratic republic based on the power of the people.”
“Speaking about the modern Azerbaijani press, it is necessary to emphasize the unique contribution of the great son of our people, national leader Heydar Aliyev to the development of this sphere. The consistent reforms of our great leader covering all areas and opening a wide path to their development covered mass media. Thus, in a short time, freedom of speech and information was ensured in our country, artificial barriers that impeded this were eliminated, laws were adopted that regulated the activities of this area and led to its development. Our great leader, who did not care about the press and was considered a friend of journalists, also removed the military censorship, and in 1998 he abolished the state censorship over the media in general. Of course, all this led to the free activity and rapid development of the press,” Sattar Mohbaliyev said.
The chairman of ATUC stressed that thanks to the special care of the head of state Mr. Ilham Aliyev, today the Azerbaijani press is at the highest stage of its development: “at present, hundreds of media subjects continue their free activity in our country, and our state creates all conditions for their effective and high-quality work. Therefore, our press has already entered the global information network, well-known and influential media outlets of the world without hesitation make references to the Azerbaijani media, and information exchanges are carried out. In 2021, by the decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev, a public legal entity “Agency for Media Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan” was established. It can be said with certainty that the media agency is working diligently to strengthen the financial independence of media outlets and further improve their activities. At the same time, the social protection of journalists does not escape the attention of our state. One-time assistance to the media, awarding of journalists with orders and medals, taking advantage of preferential mortgage loans and other similar cases are indicators of state care.”
The chairman of ATUC added that today the press and Information System of Azerbaijan is competitive even with the world’s leading mass media: ”the media bodies of our country and the professional journalistic army working there provide accurate, impartial, authoritative information to the local and international community with honest and prompt news. In Azerbaijan, the people of this profession are mostly distinguished by high patriotism, they stay away from fake, unfounded and confusing information that is widespread at the international level, and they value the statehood interests of Azerbaijan above all else. By the way, our country has been continuously fighting on the information front for many years, and our selfless journalists have shattered the insidious plans of those who are trying to convey the truth to the world community and form a negative opinion about Azerbaijan.”