As Ednews reported, a conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev was held today at the "Congress Hall" Center on the initiative of the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan called "Founder of Independent Azerbaijan".
Ednews informs that Umud Mirzayev, president of the International Eurasia Press Fund, is also participating in the conference.
He spoke on the theme "Historical services of Heydar Aliyev in the formation of independent press."
He noted that he was much honored to participate and speak at the event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the architect and founder of modern Azerbaijan, the great leader Heydar Aliyev.
“Heydar Aliyev is the founder of independent Azerbaijan, and today all the successes of our state with a victorious army, strong economy, and comprehensive development carry his signature.
There is no doubt that Heydar Aliyev's services were invaluable in the formation and development of the national press of Azerbaijan, which was founded by Hasan Bey Zardabi. Heydar Aliyev paid special attention to the development of the national press, as in other important fields of the country, and during all periods of his activity, he attached great importance to work with the media and the press. He closely followed the local and foreign press on a daily basis, set-aside time, and tried to get the problems of society through the press. He was able to skilfully use the power of the press for the implementation of activities aimed at the development of society. Heydar Aliyev gave a special place to journalists in all his visits and attached great value to their activities. He communicated directly with journalists, held meetings at the table, was interested in their problems, sometimes joked and sometimes even quoted from their articles when they least expected it.
Heydar Aliyev was close to the press during all periods of his leadership and contributed to its development. After the repressions of 1937, as in all fields of the country, the Russian language was preferred in the press itself. Thanks to Heydar Aliyev, the Azerbaijani language was established as the state language in the Constitution of 1978. After his decision, the Azerbaijani language began to develop in the printed community. A separate faculty of journalism was established at the Azerbaijan State University.”
Umud Mirzayev also noted that, with the support of Heydar Aliyev, in order to improve the material and technical base of the mass media in Azerbaijan, infrastructure provision based on new technologies was created for the normal operation of the press.
“The building of the "Azerbaijan" publishing house, where I once worked and which was built and put into use in the 70s of the last century, is also a manifestation of the attention and care that the great leader Heydar Aliyev showed to our national press while he was still in the Soviet era. At that time, putting such a modern building into use and the editorial offices of mass-circulation newspapers operating in one place was a very important event.
The steps taken in the direction of the development of civil society, the establishment of socio-political stability, and the solution of socio-economic problems formed a fundamental basis for ensuring the protection of freedom of speech and press in our country. According to Article 50 of the first Constitution prepared and adopted in 1995 under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev, the idea that the mass media are the main carriers of freedom of speech and information is an indicator of the high value he gave to the press.
After the adoption of the first constitution, Azerbaijan joined a number of international conventions and agreements in the field of freedom of speech and press. The decree “On measures to ensure freedom of speech, opinion and information in the Republic of Azerbaijan” signed by the national leader Heydar Aliyev on August 6, 1998, eliminated censorship of the media completely. This decree gave a serious impetus to the rapid development of the media in Azerbaijan and played a major role in increasing the effective role of the media in public life.
In 2001, the additions and changes to the law "On Mass Media" made it much easier to establish and use mass media. In accordance with the international legislative practice, the permission system related to mass media registration was abolished in Azerbaijan. After these changes, the Ministry of Press and Information, which already performed the function of press control, was abolished.
Umud Mirzayev said that the policy of state care for the development of the national media, which was founded by Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, is successfully continued today by President Ilham Aliyev, and emphasized that the establishment of the State Support Fund for the Development of Mass Media under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the establishment of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan is a clear example of this policy.
"Today, the Agency is doing successful work in the direction of supporting the development of the media, training specialists in the media field, involving them in training, applying a new media approach and ensuring the application of new information and communication technologies.
Today, the Azerbaijani journalism and media community does not forget the invaluable historical services of the great leader Heydar Aliyev for the country's press and always remembers his dear memory with deep respect.
Rest in a peace, Great Leader!"
Oghuz, Ulviyya Shahin
