Azerbaijan - February 2025
End of an era as Azerbaijan shuts out foreign media
The Azerbaijani government cancelled the accreditation of journalists working at four international media outlets in February: Bloomberg News, Voice of America, BBC Azerbaijan and Russia’s state media outlet Sputnik. Following a year of escalating attacks on independent Azerbaijani media, the moves leave the country essentially without accredited independent Azerbaijani or international journalists. The BBC and Sputnik, which also cover local and international news for an Azerbaijani audience, announced they had closed their offices after being ordered verbally to suspend operations. Turan News Agency, the country’s only news agency not under state control, also announced its closure on 14 February, citing a “political order” to cease operations.
Turan had operated since 1990, and the BBC Azerbaijani Service since 1994. The status of the Voice of America’s operations was unclear in February as the US-government backed agency did not return a media request for comment.
Sources: Turan News Agency, OC Media, Eurasianet
