Общественное объединение Ireli направила письмо в редакцию телеканала «Евроньюс»

Общественное объединение Ireli направила письмо в редакцию телеканала «Евроньюс», в котором выражает свое недовольство в связи с показанным репортажем «Нагорный Карабах – ветер перемен», в котором большинство фактов являются ложными и предвзятыми.

В письме приводятся некоторые факты, касающиеся фильма: «Авторы фильма посетили Нагорный Карабах без согласия азербайджанской стороны, что является нарушением принципов международного права; цифры, использованные в репортаже, неверны, то есть информация о том, что 95 процентов населения Нагорного Карабаха составляли армяне, не соответствует действительности, журналист просто фальсифицирует историю; корреспондент утверждает, что в Карабахе повсюду армянские церкви, при этом забывает упомянуть о многочисленных мечетях, которые существуют в регионе; в репортаже отмечается, что около 1 миллиона человек покинули свои дома, однако не говорится, что почти все внутренне перемещенные лица являются азербайджанцами и т.д.».

В письме Общественного объединения также отмечается, что фильм не соответствует международным стандартам средств массовой информации, и указывается на то, что профессиональный репортаж должен был бы охватывать мнения обеих сторон.

Ireli считает, что телеканал должен действовать на основе равенства и предотвращения распространения необъективной информации и настоятельно призывает, чтобы такие непрофессиональные материалы больше не появлялись.

Ниже приводим само письмо на английском языке.

To the editors, board of directors and board of trustees of the Euronews

Statement of Objection

We, the young people of Azerbaijan Republic, on behalf of the “Ireli” Public Union, would like to draw your attention to the video report, «Winds of change in Nagorno Karabakh», which was recently aired on Euronews TV channel. We strongly express our displeasure and discontent, as the publicized report is full of controversies and lacks journalistic professionalism. Most of the facts stated in the TV program are rather completely false or preconceived. We want to bring some of them to your attention:

1. Reporters acted in a very disrespectful and unprofessional manner when they entered Nagorno-Karabakh (legal territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan), without any consent of the Azerbaijani government. This is a serious breach of the two indelible principles of international law: sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

2. Report indicates that Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave within Azerbaijan, in other words is a state or part of a state that is surrounded by another. This information is utterly erroneous since Nagorno-Karabakh has never been a part of Armenia, and it is not internationally recognized as an independent state. It is an integral part of Azerbaijan and even prior to the conflict, during the ascendancy of the Soviet Union, it had a special representational status within Azerbaijani Parliament.

3. In the video material, the figures about the population of Karabakh are totally misleading. By stating that 95 percent of the inhabitants used to be Armenians, journalist simply falsifies the history. In reality, Azerbaijanis were about the 2/3 of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in the first half of the nineteenth century. Even following the massive deportation policy of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijanis still constituted the 23 percent of the population, not 5 percent as stated in the report.

4. Correspondent argues that in Karabakh, Armenian churches are everywhere and the region itself has a significant spirit of Christianity. However, he completely forgets to mention about the numerous mosques that exist in the region. Fallen victims to Armenian vandalism, most of them were completely destroyed or re-designed in order to be presented later as “authentic Armenian churches”.

5. In the video, it is rightly mentioned that nearly one million people were displaced as a result of the conflict. However, unfortunately, reporter does not mention the fact that almost all of the mentioned IDPs are Azerbaijanis. The number of Azeri refugees and IDPs from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was approximately 800,000; 200,000 of these were refugees, and more than 600,000 were IDPs.

6. Footage, showing the extraction process in the occupied gold and copper mines of the Nagorno-Karabakh, adds to the overall partiality. Even the author himself mentions that Nagorno-Karbakh receives 10 million euros each year from the exploitation of these reserves. However, it should be noted that Karabakh is internationally recognized as a legal component of Azerbaijan. It does not have any independence and any business activity within its territory is absolutely illegal, without the consent of Azerbaijan Republic.

We think that, because of all the above-mentioned mistakes, report has serious tinge of preconception, and, thus, violates journalistic honesty and internationally recognized standards of media. Professionally primed report about a conflicted territory should embrace opinions of both sides and facts.

We consider Euronews to act based on equality and avoid spreading biased information. Therefore, we sincerely hope and strongly urge that these kinds of unprofessional materials will no longer be filmed or aired by a worldwide-appreciated television channel.

Ceyhun Osmanli
Chairman of the “Ireli” Public Union

Э.Рустамов