Fast Facts Languages: Tatar, Bashkir, Crimean Tatar Established: 1953 Distribution: Radio (SW, satellite), Internet Coverage: Four hours a day on SW, five hours a day on satellite, 10 minutes weekly on FM in Crimea Locations: Prague Staff: 6 (Prague), 25 stringers

Media Environment

• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2012: Not Free (172nd/197)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2012: 142nd/175
• Media outlets in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan face similar restrictions to those that exist elsewhere in Russia. Journalists, activists, and others who oppose the official policies of the two republics risk imprisonment, while opposition websites are routinely shut down with little or no explanation. Charges of libel and “instigating extremism” are often used to silence journalists and whistleblowers.

Highlights

• Radio Azatliq is the only major international news provider in the Tatar and Bashkir languages, and the only independent source of news and analysis in the target regions. It plays an especially important role in Bashkortostan, where media work under highly restrictive conditions. As a result, Radio Azadliq serves as a unique bridge between Russia’s Tatar communities and the rest of the world.
• The Tatar-Bashkir Service has produced broadcasts in the endangered Crimean Tatar language since the 1960s. Programs in Crimean Tatar are aired twice weekly and are retransmitted into Crimea.
• Radio Azatliq’s website serves as a platform for virtual meetings where participants discuss controversial issues such as Islam and its compatibility with Western traditions and values, relations between Islamic organizations and state structures, and gender issues.
• In April 2010, Radio Azatliq was recognized by the Turkic Arts and Culture Organization (TURKSOY) for its outstanding continued coverage of Turkic art, culture, history, language and people.
• In 2008, Radio Azatliq was forced off of local FM radio after 10 years on the air following political pressure from Moscow.
• Radio Azatliq programming is monitored by Russian authorities who have sought to interfere in discussions by Tatar and Bashkir speakers about federalism, ethnic and religious minority rights, and corruption.