Germany apologises to Azerbaijan over President Steinmeier's social media post Photo

The German President's Office has apologised to Azerbaijan after mistakenly posting a flag of a former Armenian separatist regime in Karabakh, causing diplomatic discontent and strong objections from Baku.

In response, officials from both countries, including their presidential offices and foreign ministries, engaged in immediate diplomatic discussions, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Germany acknowledged that the post was the result of a technical error and was swiftly removed. A letter from the head of the German President’s Office formally conveyed apologies for the incident, with permission granted for its release to the media. 

In an official letter addressed to Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, State Secretary Dr Dörte Dinger conveyed an apology on behalf of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s office.

The letter reads:

"Honourable Hikmet Hajiyev,

for a short period of time, the wrong depiction of a flag and the accompanying text in reference to a region of Azerbaijan were published on the Federal President's social media. Once the mistake was detected, the post was immediately retracted.

The post was published due to a technical mistake and bears no significance with regard to Germany's well-known position on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

I am very unhappy about this mistake. I would like to sincerely apologise for the wrong impression the post has created among some people in Azerbaijan.

The upcoming visit of the Federal President intends to strengthen the Azerbaijan-German partnership and support the ongoing peace process in the region.

Yours sincerely, 

D. Dinger"

By Aghakazim Guliyev