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Shusha (UNA) - The opening ceremony of the second edition of the World Media Forum was held in Shusha, Azerbaijan, in the presence of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in the presence of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The second edition of the forum will be held under the title: "Debunking False Information: Combating Disinformation", from 20 to 22 July 2024, with the participation of more than 150 guests from about 50 countries, including representatives of news agencies from about 30 countries, 3 international organizations and 82 media organizations.
During the opening of the second edition, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev answered journalists' questions on various local, regional and international issues.
Aliyev stressed that the South Caucasus region in general is undergoing a historical transformation, and geopolitical historical changes are taking place.
President Ilham Aliyev added: "Traditional alliances have weakened to some extent and new forms of cooperation have emerged. The full restoration of our territorial integrity and sovereignty in September last year is the most important event. This has become an important event not only in the period between the first and second editions of the Forum, but in our contemporary history in general."
In response to a question about Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, President Aliyev explained that negotiations on the text of the peace agreement are continuing, but today he is less optimistic about it, noting that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan refused to meet him in Great Britain.
President Ilham Aliyev revealed that the meeting was held at the initiative of the British government, adding: "But the Armenian side rejected this proposal, which we were very surprised by."
"If the Armenian prime minister does not want to talk to me, what peace agreement can we talk about," the Azerbaijani president asked.
The Azerbaijani president touched on his country's hosting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) next November, pointing out that the conference is one of the most important events at the global level, and it is the number one conference in the world.
"The event is being held for the first time in the post-Soviet region," Aliyev noted, adding: "We are not only preoccupied with regulatory issues, but also taking important initiatives, working closely with developing countries, and building bridges between the Global South and the Global North. Our advantage is that we have chaired the Non-Aligned Movement for four years."
Regarding relations with Russia, Aliyev stressed that there are no outstanding issues in bilateral relations with Russia, adding, "In principle, even before the signing of the declaration of the alliance, we settled all issues on the basis of mutual understanding, mutual respect, consideration of mutual interests and taking into account the centuries-old history of relations between our peoples."
"The intensity of meetings at the level of the two presidents has increased recently, and there is a great need for that. We had meetings (with Russian President Vladimir Putin) in Moscow in April, and on the sidelines of the SCO conference earlier this month. There will certainly be more meetings before the end of this year on a lot of topics."
Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan began to deal closely with the issue of colonialism immediately after assuming the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, because many members of the Movement and millions of people were in the past victims of colonialism.
"Some countries are still suffering from this. This has been our duty, and we want to help these countries free themselves from the disgusting remnants of the past."
The Azerbaijani president stressed that his country "has chosen de facto and de jure independence, that is, an independent foreign policy, a self-sufficient economy, effective cooperation with its partners ready to cooperate with it and, of course, relied on its internal potential," adding that "at the same time, we have established close relations with the countries of the region, which allowed us to solve the majority of economic problems."
"We worked on ourselves, focused on our people and our country and ignored the developments, as well as the statements made by the European Parliament or the Council of Europe."
The Azerbaijani president pointed out that Azerbaijan have been victims of manipulation of facts and false information for many years, noting that political and media bodies biased towards Armenians attack Azerbaijan, spread false information about them and present Azerbaijan events wrongly.
He stressed that Europe today is in dire need of natural gas produced by Azerbaijan, criticizing the contradiction in the positions of some European countries on traditional energy sources.
"On the one hand, Europe is asking us to increase production and transport gas to Europe, because it desperately needs it. On the other hand, they don't fund projects in this regard."
The Shusha Global Media Forum is expected to feature 4 panel discussions on the topics of "Impact Assessment: Defining the Scope of Disinformation", "Policies and Initiatives to Create a Resilient Society to Fake News", "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Reality, Media and Misinformation: Media Awareness" and "Climate Movement and Media".
The attendees will hear interventions by officials and representatives of civil society, media from different countries, representatives of the government, business, international organizations and media experts.
The discussion sessions will also highlight the work done in the preparations for COP29 and the reconstruction and reconstruction work in the Azerbaijani territories liberated from occupation.
It is worth noting that the first edition of the Shusha Global Media Forum was held from July 21 to 23 last year under the title "Modern Media in the Period of the Fourth Industrial Revolution".
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