By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

July 22 marks National Press Day in Azerbaijan. This professional holiday commemorates the anniversary of the first publication of Akinchi (Ploughman), the first newspaper fully printed in the Azerbaijani language.

Azerbaijan Culture Minister Anar Karimov met media representatives to congratulate them on their professional holiday, Azernews reports, citing the Culture Ministry.

Head of the Culture Ministry's Media and Communication Department Maryam Gafarzada made an opening speech.

In her remarks, Maryam Gafarzada stressed that the Culture Ministry is implementing a number of projects related to the revival of culture in Azerbaijan's territories liberated from the Armenian occupation.

"These projects focus on returning the rich culture of Karabakh. We want to hear your suggestions at today's meeting. We hope that this partnership will be further expanded," she added.

In his speech, Culture Minister Anar Karimov first conveyed his best wishes to the media workers on the occasion of National Press Day.

He said that the professional holiday of media workers is one of the most valuable and significant days in Azerbaijan.

"One of the indicators of every developed society is measured by the active and objective attitude of its media to ongoing processes. We can proudly say that since the restoration of our independence, our press has been covering the events happening in our country in an operative, correct and dynamic manner. As digital platforms become more popular, the media gains more power and an opportunity to influence what happens in Azerbaijan. The press always reveals both the development and the shortcomings of the society, it plays the role of a herald in solving this or that issue," said Anar Karimov.

The culture minister said that the information war with the enemy continues after Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War.

He noted that Azerbaijani media strives to cover the truths in this information war. Local media also widely covers the large-scale construction works carried out in Karabakh and East Zangezur.

Anar Karimov pointed out that the Culture Ministry continuously works in the direction of studying the cultural environment in the liberated territories, inventorying, researching, and restoring the historical and cultural heritage.

Successful cooperation with media organizations has been established in this field as well.

Moreover, the Culture Ministry has implemented multiple patriotic projects such as "From the Stage to the Trench: Martyrs" and "From the Stage to the Trench: Veterans".

"The life stories of the martyrs who worked in the field of culture, as well as the interviews with their family members, friends, and colleagues, were prepared and presented to the public as part of these projects," said Anar Karimov.

"Our media outlets have continuously covered the mentioned and other projects. In the future, we will have numerous projects, especially related to Karabakh's historic and cultural heritage. As it is known, the Culture Ministry has announced a short video competition "History of Karabakh". I expect media representatives and bloggers to participate in this competition. I am sure that this competition will be a great opportunity to introduce the history of Karabakh to the general public. The projects such as "Four Seasons of Shusa" and "ArtCamp Shusa" will also be widely promoted in the media," he said.

Next, Anar Karimov who gave information about the Ministry's video program called "Azerbaijan-the home of ancient civilizations", said that several videos were prepared within the project.

"One of these videos is about the Azikh cave in Khojavand region, which is known as one of the oldest human settlements. We would like to promote this project more widely through television and the press. I am sure that the project "Azerbaijan - the home of ancient civilizations" will contribute to the promotion of Azerbaijan's ancient historical heritage both in our country and at the international level.

At the end of his speech, the Culture Minister once again congratulated the media representatives on the National Press Day and wished them further success.

In conclusion, Anar Karimov also listened to the proposals of media representatives and shared his views on a number of issues.