Azerbaijan's ambassador to Germany responds to DW over documentary on Armenia

It takes a remarkable amount of editorial audacity to call an illegal and bloody occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia in the early 1990s a “liberation,” Azerbaijani Ambassador to Germany Nasimi Aghayev wrote on X, commenting on a documentary "Armenia's struggle for land and identity in the Caucasus," Report informs.

"Congrats! Your recent features, 'Armenia’s struggle for land & identity in the Caucasus' & 'Armenia - A Pawn Between Superpowers,' are textbook examples of selective storytelling that could make even the most die-hard Armenian propagandists green with envy," the ambassador wrote.

"You clearly place great emphasis on creative language - it’s just unfortunate that the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani victims of the ethnic cleansing committed by Armenia were apparently not deemed worth mentioning. Why let these Azerbaijani victims get in the way of such a moving pro-Armenian storyline and high-production-value tearjerker?" Aghayev said.

Aghayev stated that the events in the documentary were unfounded, drawing attention to the real facts:

"In the early 1990s, about 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory was invaded and occupied by Armenia - for nearly 30 years. Over 800,000 Azerbaijanis were forcibly displaced. Seven cities and 900 villages - around 10,000 square kilometers - were reduced to rubble. Mosques were desecrated and burned down, cemeteries leveled, and countless civilians brutally murdered. And yet, somehow, none of this made it into your reporting. Why? Because it doesn’t fit the convenient narrative of 'Armenia - the perpetual victim,' does it?"

"That you also ignore all four UN Security Council Resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884), which demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Azerbaijan – bravo! It really takes guts to so thoroughly disregard international legal norms. But of course, if you grant yourself the moral monopoly, you don’t have to worry about the UN or international law, right?

Instead, Armenia and its decades-long policy of illegal occupation and horrendous war crimes are treated with such tenderness in your reports that one might think it was a humanitarian peace project. The perpetrator role of Armenia is carefully omitted, while Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis are demonstratively dehumanized," Aghayev wrote.

According to the diplomat, suggesting that the past conflict was religiously motivated is not only wrong, but also an extremely irresponsible, dangerous, and provocative narrative that plays into the hands of extremists:

"If your reporting is the benchmark for public broadcasting in Germany, then good night, Fourth Estate! The fact that your platform is funded by taxpayers makes this one-sided portrayal not just questionable, but downright scandalous. We call on Deutsche Welle to uphold journalistic standards – the very principles you so love to preach: accuracy, balance, respect for all victims. Perhaps next time, you’ll manage to rely on solid research rather than ideologically tinted storytelling. Our Embassy is happy to offer you those pesky things you seem to be avoiding: facts, evidence, and historical records."