Azerbaijani civil society rep slams international media bias, Armenia’s flimsy accusations

The founder of Re-Azerbaijan project, Adnan Huseyn, has lashed out at international media bias vis-à-vis Garabagh issue along with inaccurate coverage of the nearly 30-year-long occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia coupled with indifferences and threats posed by Armenia-backed terrorist groups.

"Today, we are tackling an urgent issue central to democracy and freedom: the core principles of opinion, expression, media freedom, and journalist safety," Huseyn said while addressing the third day of the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference conference dedicated to discussions on the condition of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the OSCE area, Caliber.Az reported on October 4.

“It is disheartening to see media bias on Garabagh, often accusing Azerbaijan of, and overlooking the injustices we have faced during decades of occupation of our internationally-recognized lands,” the speaker said, asking whether “the international community is guiding media inaccurately, or are they victims of media incompetence”.

Even when media outlets strive for objective and balanced reporting, they often encounter a distressing trend, the speaker said, citing an example of a Canadian journalist, who, he said, faced threats when he travelled to Azerbaijan’s Shusha several months ago, thus, alluding those Armenian nationalists were behind threats to his family in Canada.

“Consider the case of a young Canadian journalist, who visited Shusha in February. Upon his arrival, he received a threat with a photo of his parents' home in Canada, hinting at potential harm to his loved ones,” the speaker said.

He went on to highlight improper media coverage of injustices and destructions of Azerbaijani villages and cities back in the early 1990s when Garabagh and surrounding districts came under brutal attacks from Armenians and resulted in the seizure of the nation’s 20-per-cent of lands that lasted almost 30 years.

“In the early 1990s, Garabagh saw mass killings of Azerbaijanis, devastations of cities, desecration of our cultural heritage, destruction of our cemeteries, plundering of resources, and severe ecological damages. Despite these glaring realities, we have seen limited objective media coverage from the present states here,” the speaker underscored.

Highlighting the importance of the recent UN fact-finding mission to the Garabagh and Lachin border checkpoint and contacts with local Armenians on the scene, the speaker underscores the vitality of the UN mission findings and Azerbaijan’s kid-glove approach to the conduct of September 19-20 anti-terror measures in the region that terminated separatism once and for all, compelling them to go to self-dissolution of the separatist and bloody entity that wreaked havoc in the region.

“It’s important to recognise the recent visit of a UN team to the region. Throughout the areas they surveyed, they observed no apparent damage to public infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, housing, cultural, or religious sites. Additionally, there were no indications of harm to agricultural infrastructure or livestock. The team acknowledged the efforts of the government of Azerbaijan in restoring essential services,” the speaker said, mentioning objective coverage of the issue by certain media outlets.

“Recently, foreign media outlets, including Al Jazeera, visited Khankendi. In their on-the-ground reports, journalists stated that everyone they spoke to, including ICRC workers, affirmed that they had not encountered cases where people were forcibly displaced from their homes or subjected to abuse or violations of their rights,” he said.

Today's discussion highlights the pressing need to address the biased treatment Azerbaijan is facing, the speaker further noted, regretting that this bias was evident when “today’s previous speakers, discussing victim journalists, overlooked the tragedy in Kalbajar District, where Azerbaijani journalists Siraj Abishov and Maharram Ibrahimov died of a landmine explosion, planted on our territory by the former illegal separatist regime”.

“Peace cannot spread its wings when there are glaring double standards, and the three-decade-long hardships endured by almost one million Azerbaijanis, who feel unjustly treated, are disregarded,” he said, emphasising divisions triggered by double standards.

“Double standards do not bring nations closer to peace; instead, they create divisions. When certain groups receive disproportionate attention, it can foster false hopes that may lead to irrational actions. Despite OSCE and its member states’ peace aspirations, their actions can unintentionally distance peace in our region. We share the responsibility to uphold and work within the core OSCE principles and documents, particularly emphasising respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Doing so will bring us closer to the enduring peace that every nation in our region deserves,” the Azerbaijani NGO leader opined.

To recap, the speaker lambasted flimsy accusations sounded by members of the Armenian delegation at the forum, bringing attention to their references to fake social media accounts.

“In closing, I must emphasise how disheartening it is to see the Armenian delegation rely on a single comment from a fake Telegram account to tarnish my country’s image. For government officials to use such immature tactics highlights a lack of genuine grievances against Azerbaijan, prompting them to rely on fabricated accusations from a fake social media comment,” he concluded.