Baku, April 10, AZERTAC

The third meeting of the Ministers and High Officials in charge of Information and Media of the Turkic Council has been held in Baku.

The event was attended by Assistant to the Azerbaijani President, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, Director of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Fahrettin Altun, Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic Kairat Imanaliev, Director of the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Asadjon Khojaev, Deputy Minister of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askhat Oralov, State Secretary for Security Policy of Hungary Peter Sztaray and Secretary General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev.

In his opening speech, Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev once again congratulated Azerbaijan for the great victory in its just war for the liberation of its occupied territories and briefed the participants on the outcomes of the Turkistan Summit, which provided a great opportunity for the leaders of the Turkic world to come together for the first time after the Karabakh war, to discuss the current state of cooperation in the framework of the Turkic Council.

The secretary general emphasized that Information and Media is one of the priorities on the agenda of the Turkic Council and underlined the growing influence of the social media and new media tools.

Assistant of the Azerbaijani President Hikmat Hajiyev emphasized that information and media is one of the important cooperation area among the Member States; no country is immune from the negative consequences of fake news and disinformation, as it was witnessed by Azerbaijan during the occupation of 20 percent of its historical lands. In this regard, Hikmat Hajiyev stressed that Azerbaijan is interested in developing cooperation in this field with the fraternal countries, in order to strengthen cooperation on the already formed experience between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Kyrgyz Minister Kairat Imanaliev noted that the cooperation of the Member States in this field needs to be strengthened, since in the recent years, active development of digital technologies led to an unprecedented increase in the influence of the media, especially social networks in the formation of public consciousness.

Director of Communications of the Presidency of Turkey Fahrettin Altun underlined that Turkic World is facing a global problem of disinformation, which has become increasingly visible in recent years. He pointed that Turkey give utmost importance to the “fighting for the truth” in each step in the field of media and beyond. Director Altun proposed to increase the capacity of the Turkic media organizations and journalists, as well as enable the all parts of the society to become familiar with media literacy.

Kazakh Deputy Minister Askhat Oralov expressed that Kazakhstan is developing its relations with the Member States in the field of media and information bilaterally and multilaterally. He also provided information on the newly established international news channel of Kazakhstan namely “Turkistan”. The deputy minister underlined the importance of exchanging TV contents among the Member States including serials, documentaries, news and various programs which makes it possible to popularize Turkic heritage.

Director Asadjon Khojaev drew attention to the need in combating fake news and ensure information security among the Member States. He also put emphasize in increasing cooperation among the National News Agencies of the Member States which will include joint training courses to exchange experience, organizing visits by journalists to the media centers, as well as countering information threats, etc.

State Secretary Peter Sztaray expressed that Hungary is highly values its relations with the Member States in the field of media and information and they will continue to develop cooperation in this sphere in bilateral and multilateral dimensions.

As a result of the meeting the Parties approved the “Action Plan for 2021-2022” and agreed to establish a Media Coordination Committee of the Turkıc Council consisting of the high-level representatives of the Member States to coordinate and supervise the implementation of the relevant instructions of the Heads of States, decisions of the Ministers and Actıon Plan for 2021-2022.

They also agreed to maximize the potential of the established Joint FTP Pool, increasing joint production of video films, serials, video materials on the common history and culture of the Member States, as well as organizing of exchange programs and training courses for media experts.

During the meeting, Parties stressed the need to establish the International Turkic News Channel and to intensify cooperation among Official News Agencies and deepening collaboration between National TV Channels of the Member States.

The Heads of delegations also agreed by consensus to organize an International Media Forum in Turkey in 2021 in connection with the transfer to Turkey the Chairmanship of the Turkic Council in accordance with the Organization's Rules of Procedure.

Following the meeting, Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev and the heads of Delegation gave interviews to the press agencies of the Member States about the outcomes of the meeting.