First Meeting of the Audio-Visual Media Regulators of the Organization of Turkic States held in Azerbaijan

First Meeting of Audio-Visual Media Regulators of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held in Baku and Susha on 27-28 October 2022 with the participation of the audiovisual media regulatory authorities of the Member and Observer States of the OTS.

The meeting was moderated by Mr. Ismet Sattarov, Chair of the Audiovisual Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan and attended by Dr. Ömer Kocaman, Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, Mr. Ebubekir Şahin, President of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) of the Republic of Türkiye, Mr. Elmir Valizade, Head of Digital Media Division of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ahmad Ismayilov, Executive Director of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ulugbek Azamov, Deputy Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Mr. Bektur Ibragimov, Head of the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sport and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Zhandos Nurmakhambetov, Counsellor at the Republic of Kazakhstan in Baku, H.E. Tamas Torma, Ambassador of Hungary in Baku, Mr. Allamyrat Archayev, Head of Department of State Committee for Television, Radio Broadcasting and Cinematography of Turkmenistan and other representatives from the Member and Observer States.

At the meeting, Parties informed each other and delivered presentations regarding the scope of work of their respective institutions and discussed the prospective cooperation opportunities among the Turkic States in the field of audio-visual media regulation.

Deputy Secretary General Ömer Kocaman briefed the participants regarding the ongoing activities of the OTS, upcoming Leaders’ Summit to be held in Samarkand on 11 November 2022 as well as expressed readiness of the Secretariat to enhance cooperation in this field, which will enable Parties to share experience with each other and increase coordination in the international arena.

Parties agreed to establish Turkic Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (TBRAF) under the umbrella of the OTS and signed declaration of will in Shusha, which aims to create institutional framework for the prospective cooperation opportunities between the audio-visual regulatory authorities of the Member and Observer States.
On the margins of the Meeting, Second Media Coordination Committee Meeting of the OTS was also organized with the participation of the officials from the Media and Information Ministries of the Member and Observer States. At the meeting Parties updated each other on the establishment of the Turkic News Agencies Union, exchanged views and comments on the draft regulation for the establishment of the “Association of Journalists of the Organization of Turkic States” as well agreed to organize training programs for media professionals/Joint training of the spokespersons/press secretaries of the Ministries in the upcoming period.