Editor-in-Chief of the Echo newspaper Rauf Talishinsky has died in Baku yesterday aged 62, the deceased’s colleagues said.
Talishinsky was born on 16 November 1956. He graduated from Moscow State University (Journalism) in 1978. He worked for the Molodyozh Azerbaydjana, Vyshka”, and Izvestiya newspapers. In 1990, he began working for the newspaper 'Ayna' (Zerkalo) in a senior position. Since 27 January 2001, he was the editor-in-chief of the Echo newspaper. Talishinsky was awarded the title of Honored Journalist.
The staff of Vestnik Kavkaza express their deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Rauf Talishinsky.
Rauf Talishinsky was one of the best journalists of the post-Soviet space, the creator of the media outlet, which set an example of professional work on coverage and analysis of world and regional events, journalists and public figures said today, speaking with the correspondents of Vestnik Kavkaza.
"First of all, he was a decent person and a real journalist," creative producer and the host of Vesti FM, Gia Saralidze, recalls. "Rauf Talishinsky absorbed all the good things that professional journalists have in their efforts to not only cover events but also analyze them. He had great intelligence and great heart - this is what I am going to remember about him."
"There are very few people like Rauf Talishinsky, he was a very important person and journalist not only for Azerbaijan, but for the entire post-Soviet space," Saralidze stressed.
The editor-in-Chief of the North Ossetia newspaper Alan Kasayev, also drew attention to the importance of Rauf Talyshinsky as an outstanding journalist and media leader on the scale of the entire post-Soviet space. "The newspaper he created has been widely known. I knew him very well, and I always communicated with him with great interest," he said.
"His words were always significant in Azerbaijan, and among the representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora, and among the journalistic community that dealt with coverage of the situation in Russia and in the CIS countries in general. His death is a personal grief for me. This is a great human and journalist loss," Alan Kasaev expressed his condolences.
The People's Writer, chairman of the Azerbaijani Writers' Union Anar also expressed his condolences to the family, relatives and colleagues of Rauf Talishinsky. "He was a worthy person, editor of one of the most interesting Azerbaijani newspapers," Anar said.
The People's Writer, secretary of the Azerbaijani Writers' Union, President of the Azerbaijani PEN Centre Chingiz Abdullayev expressed regret in connection with the fact that such people as Rauf Talishinsky die at such early age. "He was an outstanding journalist, a great professional and a wonderful person. It's very unfortunate that we lose such people. I think this is a very big loss for our journalism and our social life," the writer said.
Journalist Oleg Kusov called Rauf Talishinsky an amazingly talented and perspicacious journalist and patriot of Azerbaijan. "Rauf and his associates showed the importance and the need for Russian-language media outlets in Azerbaijan," he said in the first place.
"Rauf Talishinsky was one of those who laid the foundation for modern Azerbaijan's success. Of course, this is a very big loss for the Azerbaijani media. People will remember his work, including interviews and articles, for a long time," he concluded.
