Azernews.Az

ANKARA – A group of Azerbaijani media representatives met with a senior Turkish official in charge of media issues in Ankara on Sunday.

The meeting with Murat Karakaya, Director of the Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information, was joined by heads and representatives of a number of Azerbaijani government agencies’ press services and numerous media outlets.

Speakers at the meeting, which took place as part of an international Turkish language Olympiad, stressed the importance of expanding relations between media organizations of Azerbaijan and Turkey as well as other Turkic countries.

Karakaya recalled that the first workshop aiming to exchange media experience was held in Azerbaijan last December, adding that such events would continue to take place.

Karakaya said preparations are also underway for the second media forum of the Turkic nations but its venue has yet to be determined.

The first such forum was held in Ankara in December 2010 and attended by media representatives of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Northern Cyprus.

When reminded of the proposal to hold the second media forum in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Karakaya said this was possible, but added that the event might be organized in one of the Central Asian countries, whose media is less developed. Holding the forum there could serve as an incentive for the development of those countries’ media, he added.

Azerbaijani media representatives said it was pivotal to capitalize on Turkey’s experience, suggesting that internships be arranged in the neighboring country for young journalists. They said there was a particular need to develop media management in Azerbaijan.

The meeting with the Turkish official was attended by an AssA-Irada editor, Sevda Rafiggyzy.