Azerbaijan condemns Russian TV display of 'distorted map'

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada has condemned the display of what he called a “distorted map” of Azerbaijan and references to the country’s Karabakh region as “Nagorno-Karabakh” on Russian state television.

“The display of a distorted map of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the ‘Vremya Pokazhet’ (Time Will Tell) programme aired on 6 May by the Russian Federation’s state-owned Channel One, including the reference to the non-existent so-called ‘Nagorno-Karabakh’, constitutes a serious provocation and an unacceptable act of political manipulation,” Hajizada said in response to a local media inquiry, News.Az reports, citing APA.

He said the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan have been fully restored and are recognised by the international community, including the Russian Federation.

“Against the backdrop of repeated statements by the Russian side affirming respect for Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and emphasising that these issues are never subject to question, the dissemination of outdated, false, and separatism-promoting narratives on a Russian state television channel stands in stark contradiction to the spirit of Azerbaijan–Russia relations, as well as to the principles of mutual respect and good-neighbourly relations,” he said.

Hajizada described such conduct by a state-owned media outlet as “unacceptable” and said Azerbaijan expects the Russian side to provide a clear explanation and take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

On 6 May, the “Vremya Pokazhet” talk show on Russia’s state-owned Channel One displayed a map of Azerbaijan featuring the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh” entity.

News.Az