APA Holding is willing to closely cooperate with the Iranian media, said President of APA Holding Vusala Mahirgizi.

She made the remarks at a round table held within the framework of the 23rd International Press Festival in Tehran on Oct. 31, an APA correspondent reported from Tehran.

Mahirgizi first gave the participants brief information about APA. She said new and traditional media should cooperate with each other and work together.

"Our company has also been using social networks. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube—especially Facebook—are popular in our country. There are more than 2 million Facebook users in our country. For this reason, most agencies are quite active on Facebook," she said.  

Mahirgizi went on to speak about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. She noted that this conflict is a crucial issue for the Azerbaijani state and media.

"Twenty percent of Azerbaijan's territories are under Armenian occupation. You Iranians have witnessed war in your own country, and you know what it is like. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to say that the Iranian press can play an active role in conveying the truth about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” she said. 

The president of APA Holding stated that some Iranian media outlets sometimes disseminate information aimed at justifying Armenia’s aggressive policy.  

“We expect the media of Iran and Turkey, the two friendly countries to Azerbaijan, to disseminate authentic information about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” she said.

Mahirgizi hailed Iran’s support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

“The Iranian state supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and always stands by our country in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. If a correspondent expresses or writes negative opinions about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or Azerbaijan, so he/she opposes his/her country,” she said, calling on the Iranian media to refer to Azerbaijan’s official sources while disseminating information about Azerbaijan.

“On the other hand, we will focus our attention on news spread by Iran's official news agencies,” she added.  

Mahirgizi stressed the importance of direct cooperation among media agencies for obtaining true information. She noted that it concerns not only political news but also cultural, art and economic news.

At the end, the president of APA Holding answered the questions of Iranian journalists.