Azerbaijani community and student organizations operating in the United Kingdom have sent an appeal to The Guardian newspaper.
The appeal, submitted by the Society of Azerbaijanis in Britain, the Caspian Circle organization, Azerbaijani student societies at the University of Edinburgh and Queen Mary University, as well as Tofiq Shahniyarov, a PhD student at Middlesex University, addressed an article published by the newspaper about the documentary film The Black Garden, News Cover reports, citing Azerbaijan's State Committee on Work with Diaspora.
The appeal pointed out that the article omitted a number of important historical and political aspects in its presentation of the Karabakh conflict. It stated that the review focused primarily on the wartime experiences and social and psychological consequences for the Armenian population living in the region, while the tragedies experienced by Azerbaijanis and other important aspects of the conflict were not adequately reflected.
The authors noted that presenting the Karabakh conflict solely from one side’s perspective could give readers an incomplete understanding of the region’s complex historical and political realities. In this regard, they emphasized the importance of objectively covering the difficulties faced by Azerbaijani internally displaced persons, the consequences of the long-term occupation of Azerbaijani territories, civilian casualties and other important historical facts.
The authors of the appeal called on The Guardian to take a balanced approach to the experiences and positions of different sides of the conflict in future materials and to present the subject while taking its historical and international legal context into account.
The initiative by Azerbaijanis and student organizations living in the United Kingdom is described as an important step toward communicating what they regard as Azerbaijan’s perspective to the international public and promoting an objective approach to issues concerning the region.
