AZERTAC

AZERTAC is Azerbaijan’s official state news agency, constituted as a public-law entity under the full name Azerbaijan State News Agency. It was founded on 1 March 1920 by the Government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and operated under several names during the Soviet period. The Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency was renamed the Azerbaijan State Information Agency by presidential order on 26 February 2015. A public-law entity bearing that name was created on 24 November 2016, and its governing charter was approved on 19 December 2017. The agency’s official institutional history confirms the principal dates, its legal form and its eight publication languages.

Media assets

News agency: AZERTAC, publishing in Azerbaijani, Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese

A July 2025 agency report said AZERTAC maintained 25 correspondent posts in 24 countries. Its current institutional page states that it has cooperation agreements with news agencies in more than fifty countries.

Ownership and governance

AZERTAC is a state-established public-law entity. Its governance arrangements are prescribed by its 2017 charter.

The agency is governed by a five-member Management Board. The President appoints and dismisses the chairman and two deputy chairmen. The Cabinet of Ministers, acting in agreement with the President, appoints and dismisses the other two members. Members serve five-year terms.

President Ilham Aliyev appointed Vugar Aliheydar oglu Aliyev Chairman of the Management Board on 28 November 2022. AZERTAC’s current institutional page continues to identify him in that position.

Executive influence extends beyond appointments. The President exercises institutional supervision over AZERTAC and receives its annual report. The Management Board approves the agency’s structure, staffing level and expenditure estimate in agreement with the President. The President also holds the power to reorganise or dissolve the agency.

Source of funding and budget

AZERTAC receives direct state-budget financing. The official implementation annex for Azerbaijan’s 2026 state budget allocates AZN 7,156,175 to the agency.

The charter permits additional income from grants, donations, contracts with public bodies and private parties, services, sales and other lawful sources. The profile therefore does not describe state financing as necessarily exclusive.

The charter also requires AZERTAC to prepare, submit and publish financial statements and to engage an external auditor. State Media Monitor could not identify the required published statements, an audit report or a breakdown between budget financing and other income.

Editorial independence

AZERTAC’s institutional mandate places it within the state’s official communication system. Its charter requires it to disseminate official material from the President, the National Assembly, the Cabinet of Ministers and other public bodies. It also authorises the agency to organise its services in accordance with state policy.

Journalists interviewed by State Media Monitor in March 2024 described the agency’s output as aligned with official positions and avoiding criticism of the authorities.

Formal protections exist. The charter describes AZERTAC as independent in its activities and requires objective and comprehensive coverage. Articles 5 and 6 of Azerbaijan’s Law on Media declare the media free, prohibit state censorship and unlawful interference, establish creative and editorial independence and recognise journalists’ right to independence. Article 14 requires impartial and objective presentation and prohibits one-sidedness.

Those provisions do not create structural autonomy. The President directly supervises AZERTAC, controls three of the five board appointments and must agree to the remaining two. State Media Monitor identified no independent appointment authority or external mechanism capable of enforcing the formal safeguards against the agency’s politically appointed governance.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor could not identify a published AZERTAC policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or audience disclosure, and could not establish the extent of adoption in news production.

Azerbaijan adopted an Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025 to 2028 through Presidential Decree No. 530 of 19 March 2025. Law No. 387-VIIQD of 21 April 2026 requires publicly displayed photographs, video and audio produced using artificial intelligence to carry a clear and readily visible indication that AI was used. Companion legislation introduced an administrative fine of AZN 80 to AZN 150 for knowingly disseminating such material without the required label.

The legislation does not create a separate obligation to label every text or every item merely assisted by artificial intelligence.

Classification rationale

AZERTAC remains classified State-Controlled Media (SC).

It is state-owned and directly state-governed. AZERTAC is a public-law entity supervised by the President. The President appoints the chairman and two deputy chairmen, while the remaining two Management Board members are appointed by the Cabinet with presidential agreement. No independent supervisory body or protected appointment procedure was identified.

It is predominantly state-funded. The 2026 state budget provides AZN 7.156175 million. Other forms of income are legally permitted, but their value and proportion were not established.

Its editorial agenda is institutionally aligned with the state. The agency is required to disseminate official information and organises its services in accordance with state policy. Interview evidence describes output aligned with official positions. The formal independence, objectivity and anti-censorship provisions in the charter and Media Law are not supported by governance independent of presidential control.

September 2026