From November 6 to 8, 2020, “Media Advocate” initiative monitored the publications of 5 leading Russian media outlets to find out how the Russian media covered the actions unleashed by Azerbaijan. The following media outlets were monitored: “Lenta ru”, “Gazeta ru”, “Ria Novosti”, “Regnum”, and “TASS”.
“Lenta.ru” published 24 articles, 7 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 10 of the Armenian side, 7 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts․ 3 out of 7 materials are neutral, 3 are pro-Armenian, 1 is pro-Azerbaijani.
“Gazeta ru” published 33 articles, 9 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 13 of the Armenian side, 11 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 8 out of 11 materials are neutral, 2 are pro-Armenian, 1 is pro-Azerbaijani.
“Ria Novosti” published 78 articles, 26 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 44 of the Armenian side, 8 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 4 out of 8 materials are neutral, 1 is pro-Armenian, 3 are pro-Azerbaijani.
“TASS” published 43 articles, 15 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 21 of the Armenian side, 7 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. All 7 publications were of a neutral character.
“Regnum” published 45 articles, 16 of which were the publications of the Azerbaijani side, 13 of the Armenian side, 16 were calls, statements of different countries and structures, as well as comments of state officials and experts. 9 out of 16 materials are neutral, 5 are pro-Armenian, 2 are pro-Azerbaijani.
Akhra Avidzba, the Abkhazian president’s aide for international relations, wrote on his Facebook page that the first group of Abkhazian volunteers had left for NKR. “Every ethnic Armenian has the right to defend his homeland,” wrote the aide to the President of Abkhazia.
System of a Down (SOAD) musicians have released new songs for the first time in the last 15 years, which are a unique reference to the Artsakh conflict. According to Serzh Tankian, they wanted to say that “The current corrupt regimes of Aliyev’s Azerbaijan and Erdogan’s Turkey not only want to declare Artsakh and Armenia their own, but also commit genocidal acts without being held accountable.” We are here to defend our land, to defend our culture, to defend our nation. Now is not the time to close our eyes.” Tankian noted that the funds received due to the purchase of new songs will be directed to those who suffered as a result of conflict in Artsakh.
Russian military journalist Semyon Pegov, author of the WarGonzo project, has denied another statement by Ilham Aliyev on the capture of Shushi, a key town in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Russian media, this is not the first time that Russian military journalists have denied Aliyev’s statements about occupying strategically important settlements in Karabakh.
According to one of the analyses, the French newspaper L’Opinion, which a year ago claimed that “Turkey’s negative political image in Europe will be transferred to Azerbaijan” and Baku “will be perceived only as the capital of one of the Muslim Turkish states, which has nothing to do with European identity “, is coming true. The author of the article considers this a “serious mistake” of the Azerbaijani diplomacy. “As far as France is concerned, given its complicated relations with Turkey over the Eastern Mediterranean, it may initiate recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence, just as it is in favor of granting statehood to the Kurds in Syria,” the analyses reads.
