Baku, December 16, AZERTAC

A book marking the 95th anniversary of AZERTAC has been launched. The book is presented in four languages - Azerbaijani, English, Russian and Arabic. The book features executive orders of President Ilham Aliyev renaming Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency (AZERTAC) Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC), conferring honorary titles and medals upon the agency`s employees. The book highlights jubilee events as well as the meeting of the News Agencies World Council in Baku. It also includes interviews and congratulations of Azerbaijani officials and foreign guests and heads of news agencies and international news organizations. The book contains an article by Director General of AZERTAC Aslan Aslanov.

Founded by the government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on 1 March 1920, AZERTAC is Azerbaijan`s first national news agency. The agency was a branch of TASS agency after the fall of the Democratic Republic. Throughout its history the agency has had its name changed seven times, and returned its historical name only in 1991 when Azerbaijan restored its independence.

Working on a round-the-clock basis, AZERTAC is producing news in seven languages – Azerbaijani, English, Russian, French, German, Arabic and Chinese – covering socio-political, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, healthcare, sport, environmental and other fields. The agency is producing more than 30,000 news items, more than 80,000 photos, more than 800 videos and more than 30 infographics on a monthly basis. Many leading news agencies around the world cite AZERTAC as a source of reliable news. AZERTAC is the only news agency in the region that provides news in seven and video news in five languages.

In 2004, AZERTAC became a member of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), which groups the world`s leading news agencies. The agency is the largest contributor of news items to OANA`s website. In 2008, the agency joined the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA). AZERTAC is one of the founders of the Association of the National News Agencies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (ANIA), the Association of the Turkic Speaking News Agencies (TKA) and the Black Sea Association of National News Agencies (BSANNA).

In 2011-2013, AZERTAC chaired the Black Sea Association of National News Agencies. It currently presides over the Association of the Turkic Speaking News Agencies.

Abbreviation “AZERTAC” derives from the historical name of the agency - Azerbaijan Telegraph Agency (French word «agence» means "agency"). The word "telegraph" in the name of AZERTAC (Azerbaijan Telegraph Agency) probably attracts the attention of many people and is sometimes misunderstood. The thing is that telegraph was the only tool for transmitting and spreading news at the time.

"Such an extensive and active representation in international media organizations and our work to spread the truth about Azerbaijan in a very broad geographical area enables us to build a platform for dialogue between Eastern and Western news agencies. The foundation of this platform was laid in September 2008, when AZERTAC hosted the 30th meeting of the OANA Executive Committee entitled "News for all in a globalizing world”. For the first time AZERTAC brought together outstanding decision-makers that shape the global information policy in Asia and Europe. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the guests, which considerably increased the importance of the event," Mr Aslanov said in his article. "AZERTAC is committed to enriching this tradition in the 2016-2019 when the agency will hold the chairmanship of OANA and the News Agencies World Congress (NAWC). AZERTAC will host the 16th General Assembly of OANA and the Fifth News Agencies World Congress in Baku in 2016."