Türkiye's communications director slams attack on Azerbaijani journalists in France

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun on Thursday condemned the attack on the journalists’ crew of Azerbaijani Television (AzTV), the country’s state-run broadcast, in France.

“We have learned with sorrow that the employees of the official Azerbaijan state television AZTV were attacked while performing their duties in France," Altun said on Twitter.

"We strongly condemn this heinous attack on the freedom of the press and information, which reveals that Europe is losing altitude day by day in terms of the protection of human rights and freedoms,” he stressed.

Altun urged the French authorities to quickly identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack.

The Turkish official spoke on the phone with Hikmet Hajiyev, an aide to Azerbaijan's president, and said Türkiye would use all available means to shed light on this heinous attack.

Altun also wished the Azerbaijani journalists injured in the attack a speedy recovery and extended his best wishes to the entire Azerbaijani people.

According to Trend news agency, the AzTV crew was assaulted while covering protests that erupted after a French police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old driver.

The reporter and cameraman were injured, and their camera was seized and damaged. When the AzTV staff asked for the camera back, they were threatened with a weapon.​​​​​​​