Clarification to the statement of the executive director of the Media Development Agency

One of my colleagues in the journalistic workshop told me that Report.az agency, referring to Ahmed Ismayilov, the executive director of the Agency for Media Development, reported on December 17 that the director of the Turan news agency Mehman Aliyev avoids expressing his position in open debates on the draft law on media.

Report.az's message was published by various media, including those financed by the Media Development Agency. One of the editors was called and advised to publish this post, but he refused to do so.

From the post report:

Ahmed Ismayilov, Executive Director of the Media Development Agency, in his speech (in parliament) noted that the project is ready for open discussions with all interested parties. But the other side refrains from substantiating its remarks in open debates: “We participated in various debates during the discussion of this draft law. Yesterday we received such an invitation from the “Public Television” and expressed our consent to take part in an open discussion with Mehman Aliyev. However, later it turned out that Mehman Aliyev does not support the discussion of the issue in such debates.”

In this regard, I consider it necessary to clarify the essence of the issue and the problem.

Mehman Aliyev, as well as leading lawyers in the field of media and freedom of expression Alasgar Mammadli and Khalid Agaliyev, as well as some editors not funded by the Media Development Agency, were not invited to parliamentary discussions, which were held twice with the participation of about 70 editors and heads of NGOs (in walls of parliament and closed online).

After the first parliamentary discussion, I was invited and held a closed meeting in parliament with the head of the parliamentary committee on human rights Zahid Oruj, executive director of the Media Development Agency Ahmed Ismailov, chairman of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting (NCTRB) Ismet Sattarov, where he declared the inadmissibility of the bill, which provides for censorship, including licensing of Internet resources. But the main thing is without the absence of a strategic vision of the state in the field of information policy.

Zahid Oruj promised cooperation, instructed his assistant to send me an email to exchange opinions. But I didn’t receive an email, nor did I receive invitations for further discussions. I called him myself and reminded him that I had not received an email. And he even had to send a number of amendments via SMS. Zero response.

I received an invitation from the ARB TV channel to participate in the discussion on the air. Taking into account the state censorship on all TV channels, I said that I was ready to speak only live. They called me back, said that the discussions would be recorded and promised that my entire speech would be broadcast without cuts. I answered: I'll think about it. Then they called me back and said that the transfer was canceled. However, on December 11, discussions on ARB were recorded and received by Professor Gulu Maharramli, with whom they spoke in an online discussion on Toplum TV the day before.

Now about the discussion on Public Television, which Ahmed Ismalov mentioned.

Murad Huseynov, deputy chief director of ITV, called me and invited me to take part in the discussion on their TV channel. He immediately made a reservation that the discussions would be recorded. I said that I disagree with this format. But this is not the main thing. I said categorically against the adoption of the law without a strategic roadmap and programs for the development of the information community of Azerbaijan. He replied that he was familiar with this position of mine.

On December 17, at which Ismailov made a statement addressed to me, I was not invited to the online parliamentary discussions on December 17, as well as other opponents of the bill.

Using this clarification, I reiterate that it is necessary to postpone the draft law until the adoption of a strategic roadmap and programs for the development of the information community of Azerbaijan, including the media. All three components of this problem should be the end result of the joint work of the state and society. The information space has gone beyond the exclusive ownership of the media.

I hope that Report.az, which disseminated the distorted statement of Ahmed Ismayilov, will publish this clarification, like other media outlets reprinted the statement.

Mehman Aliyev, director of Turan, the first and last independent news agency in Azerbaijan