Appeal to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev

Dear Mr. President!

We, the representatives of the public of Azerbaijan, appeal to you with a convincing request to pay attention to the case of the arrested director of the Turan agency Mehman Aliyev.

This person has great merits before the country, is widely known in the world, as an authoritative journalist and media expert.

Mehman Aliyev himself and the agency he leads have numerous awards, they were active participants in the breakthrough of the information blockade around Azerbaijan and bringing to the world community the truth about the Karabakh conflict.

It was the Turan agency that first informed the world about the tragedy of Khojaly. The documentary film The Endless Corridor was shot based on the archives of Turan and with the creative support of the agency.

Thanks to this international project, half a billion people in the world learned about the tragedy of Khojaly.

The arrest of Mehman Aliyev, so that he could not evade the investigation, is not convincing, for he was not hiding from the first day, but, on the contrary, cooperated with the investigation.

Dear Mr. President,

We are concerned about the well-known journalist's case. We hope you can help to ensure that the investigation into this case is carried out objectively, and that you will help to replace the measure of restraint in the form of arrest in relation to Mehman Aliyev.

Chairman of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan Anar, MPs Rasim Musabeyov, Asim Mollazade and Fazil Mustafa, ex-Foreign Minister Tofig Zulfugarov, chairman of the Union of Azerbaijani Musicians Farhad Badalbeyli, secretary of the Azerbaijan Writers' Union Chingiz Abdullayev, national poet of Azerbaijan Sabir Rustamkhanli, film director and screenwriter Ramiz Fataliyev, rector of Khazar University Hamlet Isakhanli, Oriental scholar Farda Asadov, People's Artist of Azerbaijan Nureddin Mehdikhanli, chairman of the Journalists' Union of Azerbaijan Elchin Shikhli, chairman of the journalists' association New Generation Arif Aliyev, head of the Center for the Advancement of Journalism Gulu Maharramli.
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