Employees of BBC Azerbaijan, which was ordered to close by the Azerbaijani government earlier in 2025, have nonetheless continued to work in the country, the pro-government media outlet APA has reported, citing the Azerbaijani Media Development Agency.
Continuing to do journalistic work after accreditation has been revoked is a ‘serious violation of the law’, the agency said on Thursday.
APA wrote that it had made an inquiry to the agency earlier that day in response to ‘reports’ that unnamed former employees of BBC Azerbaijan had been continuing ‘their journalistic activities in the country, even address[ing] inquiries to various organisations and conduct[ing] investigations’.
The agency told APA that ‘currently there is no legal basis for the activities of the BBC representation in Azerbaijan’, and as a result, the agency can ‘demand the cessation of illegal activities’.
Neither APA nor the agency specified what specific journalistic activities the employees were allegedly doing.
OC Media has reached out to former employees of BBC Azerbaijan for clarification about the allegations, but has yet to receive a response.
The BBC’s Azerbaijani language service has been operating since 1994, first on the radio, and then online. The media outlet suspended its Azerbaijani language radio broadcasts in 2011, following the Azerbaijani government’s decision to stop broadcasting foreign radio stations on FM. Since then, the BBC has expanded its online presence in Azerbaijani.
In February, BBC Azerbaijan said that it had taken the ‘reluctant decision’ to close its office in the country after being ordered to do so by the government, adding that ‘we deeply regret this restrictive move against press freedom’.
Aytan Farhadova
