Western Azerbaijan Community accuses German radio station of promoting racial discrimination

On January 12, German public radio station Deutschlandfunk aired a programme that sparked outrage, with accusations of promoting racial discrimination and exacerbating regional tensions.

The broadcast, which featured an interview with Tessa Hofmann — a known critic of Azerbaijan — was filled with claims that have been strongly refuted by the Western Azerbaijan Community.

The programme focused on the 1990 events in Azerbaijan, presenting them through the lens of radical Armenian nationalism. It claimed that illegal actions were committed against Armenians in Azerbaijan, while entirely omitting the history of the conflict from the Azerbaijani perspective.

In response to the broadcast, the Western Azerbaijan Community issued a statement, condemning the programme for ignoring key historical facts, per Caliber.Az.

"The author of the material did not say a word about the ethnic cleansing committed by Armenia against more than a million Azerbaijanis, the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the destruction of our cultural heritage," the statement read.

The community further highlighted the programme's failure to address the mass displacement of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, saying, "The programme makes no mention of the fact that 300,000 Western Azerbaijanis were ethnically cleansed in Armenia in 1987-91 and 216 people were killed."

Instead of airing content that promotes racial discrimination, the community urged Deutschlandfunk to condemn the racist policies of Armenia. "Deutschlandfunk channel, instead of broadcasting such programmes promoting racial discrimination and escalating tensions in the region, would do better to condemn the policy of racism in Armenia, including the famous speech of the first president of that country Levon Ter-Petrosian," they stated.

The community concluded by calling on the management of Deutschlandfunk to take swift action against the broadcast. "We call on the management of Deutschlandfunk to take action against this unacceptable step," they emphasized.

By Tamilla Hasanova