BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 13. The Armenian lobby, traditionally strong in France, has launched a large-scale campaign against Azerbaijan in the local press. Benefiting from the Emmanuel Macron-caused crisis in relations between Baku and Paris, articles slandering Azerbaijan and making outlandish accusations are practically daily published in Armenian-language media outlets. It is encouraging that among this anti-Azerbaijani howl in the French press, there are also voices telling the truth about what is happening in our region.
Thus, Paris-based La Gazette du Caucase published an article in which reporters refuted a provocative article by the French-language Armenian publication Armenews, which managed to accuse Baku of "destroying the Armenian heritage in Karabakh".
"Even during the worst periods of relations between the two countries, Armenian churches continued to function in Azerbaijan. However, when Karabakh was under Armenian occupation, Azerbaijani mosques in the occupied territories were used as warehouses or animal stalls, and historical and cultural monuments were vandalized. Hundreds of cultural and religious monuments in Karabakh were destroyed - but these monuments were Azerbaijani and destroyed by Armenians," La Gazette du Caucase emphasizes.
The publication notes that ethnic, confessional, and cultural diversity has always been a kind of "business card" of Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan and its principles deserve great respect. Due to its centuries-old history and strategic location on the Great Silk Road, diversity has always been an integral part of Azerbaijani society. Nowadays, different ethnic groups live peacefully in cities and regions of Azerbaijan, enjoy equal rights, and develop," the reporters write.
As for the accusations of destroying heritage, the Paris-based newspaper emphasizes that it is the Armenian side that has been rewriting the history of the South Caucasus for many years, filling it with fakes.
"For many years, the Armenian side loudly declared about the alleged "destruction of Armenian heritage" on the territory of Azerbaijan, trying to prevent the restoration of historical Albanian temples. However, now, after the liberation of Karabakh, for the first time in two centuries, the Albanian-Udin community can freely visit their temples and hold prayer services in the churches built by their ancestors. Armenians can no longer rewrite the history of the region at will," the publication of La Gazette du Caucase notes.
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