French reporter's pro-Armenian tweet questions his unbias

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

The idea of impartiality means treating different views fairly and without favour. According to certain basic requirements of impartiality, in their reporting journalists should be free from racism, sexism, and bias against particular religious, national, or ethnic groups.

However, a recent tweet by Le Figaro Magazine’s Jean-Christopher Buisson raises serious doubts about this journalist's impartiality.

Being from France, the country which has internationally recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Buisson draws quite biased and unfair parallels between the Taliban members and Azerbaijanis or Turks.

Biased comparison

The journalist compares the destruction of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s mausoleum by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Panjshir with “the monuments, gravestones and khachkars destroyed by the Turks and Azerbaijanis in Artsakh”.

Meanwhile, he fails to admit the historical truth about Karabakh.

It is worth to recall Buisson that the entire world community and international organizations do not recognize "Artsakh", because this term does not exist in international law.

There is only Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s historical territory, which Armenia retained under its occupation for about 30 years and inflicted colossal damages worth billions of dollars.

If to compare destructions caused by Taliban with Armenia’s 30-year vandalism, it is undoubted that the latter’s devastations and damages on Azerbaijan exceed all limits.

Pro-Armenian interests

It is quite strange that a senior journalist in a world-famous magazine failed to see the truths about the pains of Azerbaijanis when all information is easily accessible in the modern technology era.

Guided by bias and prejudice, Le Figaro Magazine’s deputy editor evidently pursues the interests of the Armenian lobby.

Thus, does it mean that Le Figaro Magazine, which considers itself free and democratic, runs counter to its own principles. The tweet shared by the journalist places responsibility not only on him, but the magazine as well.

It should be noted that the scale of destructions in the country's formerly occupied territories suggests deep hatred and animosity against Azerbaijanis, with many experts describing these mass destructions as genocide.

Armenian damages

Armenia's aggression and illegal occupation caused irreparable damages to Azerbaijan's cultural heritage, which includes thousands of cultural values, including monuments of the world and national importance, mosques, temples, mausoleums, museums, art galleries, sites of archaeological excavations, libraries and rare manuscripts.

Sixty-four of 67 mosques and Islamic religious sites were destroyed, greatly damaged, and desecrated.

More than 900 cemeteries were destroyed and vandalized. The evidence of illegal "archaeological excavations" and so-called "restoration work" was found on the liberated Azerbaijani territories, confirming previous reports of Armenia's attempts to hide and falsify cultural, historical and scientific evidence, said an official letter addressed by Azerbaijan to the UN.

The letter added that a modern workshop for the production of "ancient" khachkars - Armenian cross-stones was discovered in Azerbaijan's liberated Kalbajar region.

“These khachkars were oxidized and vinegar was used in the process of artificial aging and then they were buried as 'indisputable evidence' of 'centuries-old Armenian roots' in this region," the letter said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that hundreds of cultural institutions, 927 libraries with a book fund of 4.6 million, 22 museums and museum branches with more than 100,000 exhibits, 4 art galleries, 8 culture, and recreation parks, as well as one of the oldest settlements in the world in Fuzuli region - Azykh Cave, the Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve had become victims of the Armenian vandalism.

Occupied by Armenian forces in 1993, Aghdam is known as the Hiroshima of the Caucasus for the level of destruction during the three decades of occupation.

In 2020, as a result of Armenia's targeted missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities outside the war zone (Ganja, Barda, Tartar, and others), 100 Azerbaijani civilians, including 12 children were killed and over 400 were wounded. International human rights watchdogs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also verified the use of banned cluster bombs and rockets by Armenia in its attacks against Azerbaijani cities.

Armenia extensively damaged the ecosystem, wildlife and natural resources in and around occupied Karabakh. 

This list can be enlarged as the Armenian aggression inflicted appalling sufferings on Azerbaijanis.

It seems that the Le Figaro journalist preferred to stay tight-lipped before all these hard and undeniable facts, choosing the interests of the Armenian lobby groups.

Azerbaijan's values of multiculturalism

Azerbaijan has always been a secular country. There are synagogues, mosques, churches and even temples of fire worshipers in every corner of Azerbaijan, in the homeland of different peoples and religions. Because the historical development, geographical location and ethnic composition determined the religious diversity of the country.

Azerbaijan is committed to its values ??of multiculturalism and the preservation of religious monuments both in Azerbaijan and abroad.

For the first time in history, Azerbaijan, being a country with a Muslim majority, contributed to the restoration of a Christian monument. As in the Vatican, in the same France and other countries.

Azerbaijan ensured the restoration of the catacombs of St. Marcellinus, St. Peter and St. Sebastian in the Vatican. It also funded the restoration of Notre Dame in France. All this means that Azerbaijan has always been distinguished by religious tolerance.