Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Ilhamgizi / The Azerbaijani Government will take concrete measures to strengthen the economic foundation of the press, and decrease their financial dependence during the next year, said Ali Hasanov, the head of the Public-Political Department of the Presidential Administration, during a conference dedicated to government and press relations.
According to Hasanov, one of the problems is the weak economic situation of the press. "The Azerbaijani Government is ready to render assistance and strengthen the economic standing of the press. The Government will take concrete measures in this direction in 2008," Hasanov said.
"For the Government it will be difficult to define which newspaper to render assistance to first. Journalists should uphold their responsibilities and not violate the freedom of others," Hasanov added.
"The recent arrests of journalists have no connection with their criticism against the Government. The Azerbaijani press has enough rights to criticize the Government. However, the press should criticize both the Government and opposition," Hasanov said.