OSCE, Ashgabat, 30 Mar 2009 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, met Rashid Meredov, Turkmenistan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister today, and welcomed the government’s intention to reform media education in the country.
Haraszti also opened a one-week training seminar for journalists, organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabad with the Foreign Ministry.
“The modern media is about knowing the world, but also about being known in the world and Turkmenistan recognizes the need to allow the country’s media to achieve both these objectives,” said Haraszti at the start of the seminar.
The seminar, conducted by international experts, will focus on using the Internet, the work of foreign correspondents, the main tasks of governmental press services and the work of press attachés.
Ambassador Arsim Zekolli, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabad, added: “Our pioneering event is in line with President Berdimuhamedov’s recent statement urging the media to create contemporary programmes. Development of Internet access in the country also helps to move forward in this direction.
Haraszti, who is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan following an invitation from Meredov, will also lecture students at the newly established Institute for Foreign Relations on the OSCE’s history and his own experience in supporting the implementation of OSCE commitments in the field of media freedom.
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