Rashad Majid urges calm but firm response to anti-Azerbaijan campaign

Biased remarks and asymmetric campaigns targeting Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev by some circles and media platforms in Türkiye in recent days have caused justified public discontent and regret. The statements run counter to the spirit of relations between the two brotherly countries, Azerbaijan and Türkiye, which were elevated to the level of strategic alliance under the Shusha Declaration, and are also seen as an attempt to cast a shadow over the unity of the entire Turkic world.

It had been expected that such simplistic and provocative approaches would stop after the head of state, responding to interference from abroad, said: “…everyone should stay in their place, not interfere in our affairs, stick their nose into our way of life or tell us what to do. Everyone should look after their own people and state.” However, the renewed use of certain narrow-minded individuals to continue the same rhetoric suggests that deeper media manipulation and forces behind the campaign may be involved.

Speaking to “Operative Information Center-OMM” on the issue, Press Council Chairman Rashad Majid said it was important to act with restraint while also taking a principled position:

“We must remain calm, but we must not stay silent either. After the President’s precise words, everyone should have thought quietly, analyzed their own mistakes and taken responsibility for their part. That was what was expected and what was desirable. But you cannot help being astonished when narrow-minded, ignorant people in a brotherly country are once again pushed forward and continue trying to tell Azerbaijan what to do with their simplistic thinking!”

The Press Council chairman added that such provocative attempts must be addressed immediately through legal channels:

“It is essential for Türkiye’s justice system to immediately put an end to these actions, which could harm our brotherhood and the entire Turkic world, and to launch an operation against those behind them to expose those stirring up trouble. And without delay!”