Azernews.Az

BAKU - President Ilham Aliyev has conferred the editor-in-chief of AssA-Irada News Agency Arslan Abbasov with the Tereggi (Progress) medal for his contribution to the development of Azerbaijani press.
Abbasov is among 38 outstanding journalists who received the award in accord with a decree enacted by President Aliyev on the occasion of the 135th anniversary of the Azerbaijani media that was marked across the nation on Thursday.
Under another presidential decree, 38 people were named Honorable Journalists, while 15 others were granted the title of Honorable Culture Workers, and one person received the Honorable Engineer title.
Moreover, the president ordered to award eight news agencies 10,000 manats ($12,500) each, 32 newspapers 20,000 manats ($25,000) each, while the Foundation for State Assistance to the Development of the Media under the President of the Azerbaijan Republic was granted 280,000 manats ($350,000) to hold the 135th anniversary of the country’s media. AssA-Irada is among the media outlets that received the assistance.
A total of 1 million manats ($1.25 million) has been allocated from the Azerbaijani President’s Reserve Fund, envisioned by the 2010 state budget, to provide the assistance.
President Aliyev also signed a decree to bolster social security of Azerbaijani media workers. 5m manats ($6.26m) have been allotted to the state-run foundation supporting the media from the presidential hedge fund to improve housing conditions and build homes for media representatives.
The foundation of the Azerbaijani media was laid by prominent enlightener Hasanbay Zardabi, who published the first national publication, Akinci, on July 22, 1875. The date has been celebrated in the country as National Press Day since Azerbaijan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
About 4,200 media outlets, over 50 news agencies and 100 newspapers are operating in Azerbaijan.*