By Peter Townson
A group of Azeri officials is in Qatar gathering information from the Doha Debates production team to assist them in their venture to produce a similar television programme and forum for free speech in Azerbaijan.
The new project has come about as a result of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) school of international affairs being established by the Azeri government in the past two years, and is part of the development of the school, whose campus is currently under construction.
The school’s director, Fariz Ismailzade told Gulf Times that Qatar and Azerbaijan have a lot in common and share “excellent relations at the senior level.”
Following a number of diplomatic visits between both countries, the Azeri government decided to pursue a project similar to the Doha Debates, and the ADA team are scheduled to film the first episode of “ADA Majlis” on November 14 to coincide with a major energy conference in Baku.
The show, which will be filmed in Azeri, is aimed at “improving the debating skills of our students at the ADA, but also improving things for the Azeri society, who do not debate or discuss politics enough,” explained Ismailzade.
Senior producer for ADA Majlis, Jim Trengrove argued that “the news media in Azerbaijan is not where it should be,” and expressed a hope that the introduction of ADA Majlis might help other media outlets address significant national and regional issues in a “more constructive way”.
The visitors have been here examining how the debates are set up and meeting with the programme’s producers, and chairman Tim Sebastian.
“Although the programme might not be the same format, the idea behind it is the same,” explained Trengrove, who said that he was particularly impressed with Sebastian’s “genuine enthusiasm” for promoting freedom of speech in the Arab world, as well as the way the programme has developed over the past five years.
“I think Tim has seen the Doha Debates as something of an island in this region, but hopefully we can provide a link and further develop freedom of expression,” he said.
He explained that the location of Azerbaijan is extremely significant as the country is surrounded by countries which represent political issues. |
