Azerbaijani Media Accuses Armenian Ombudsman of Spreading Anti-Azerbaijan Sentiment by Distorting Statements

Azerbaijani media outlets, which have long propagated hatred and animosity towards Armenians, are accusing the Human Rights Defender of Armenia of spreading anti-Azerbaijan sentiment by distorting and later exploiting the Defender's statements. These publications contain insults and hate speech directed at Arman Tatoyan.

This was stated in a press release from the office of the Armenian Human Rights Defender.

One of the Azerbaijani media outlets has published yet another piece about the Armenian Ombudsman, drawing political conclusions at the expense of inciting hatred, for example, saying, “Since the country, whose future depends on establishing peace with Azerbaijan, continues to be strengthened in a deadlock of despair due to the efforts of the ‘Tatoyans’ and their supporters.”

The Armenian Human Rights Defender constantly publishes specific evidence with concrete references, reflecting not only the words of high-ranking state authorities but also the statements of sports, cultural, and public figures, as well as other real users. The Ombudsman's assessments regarding the hatred embedded in Azerbaijani political policy are based on these factors.

Azerbaijani media continues to incite new hatred without addressing the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces, such as the torture of Armenian civilians and soldiers, beheadings, recording these acts and then ridiculing them, bombings of the maternity hospital in Stepanakert, and the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi, when it was widely publicized that children, women, and the elderly were sheltering in the church's basement, and the mass destruction of cities and villages in Artsakh, including the use of prohibited weapons, the artificial delay and politicization of the release of prisoners, and so on.

During the war, over 100,000 civilians have been displaced from their permanent homes, approximately 40,000 people have become homeless, and around 30,000 children of school and preschool age have been deprived of education. 12 kindergartens and 71 schools have been damaged or destroyed. From September 27, 2020, to January 28, 2021, 72 civilians were killed. 163 civilians were injured.

In videos depicting torture, Azerbaijani soldiers use the same words that have been part of Azerbaijani state policy for years.

All evidence is documented by the staff of the Armenian Human Rights Defender and sent to international organizations.

The prevention of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Azerbaijani armed forces demands strict accountability; impunity breeds new, more severe crimes. Therefore, the Armenian Human Rights Defender will continue to expose facts of hatred, publish them, and take necessary legal procedures within his jurisdiction, regardless of any pressure.