BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 23. Social media has been circulating claims about the deletion of some articles regarding Azerbaijan, particularly Karabakh's history, from Wikipedia, Trend reports.
Commenting on this issue, Wikipedia expert and diaspora researcher Elnur Elturk said that articles related to Karabakh aren't deleted from the Azerbaijani-language section of Wikipedia.
Elturk noted that these articles are enriched with reliable sources.
"Wikipedia's philosophy is based on the idea that an article can be created if it meets encyclopedic standards. Today, the Azerbaijani-language section of Wikipedia has numerous Karabakh-related articles, created by members of the Azerbaijani Wikipedia community," he explained. "These contributors continue their valuable mission. Anyone interested can access information about Karabakh on Wikipedia. While there may be limited sources and the articles themselves may be weak, Wikipedia's rules allow for improvement. Each person can contribute within these guidelines."
The expert emphasized that volunteers and Wikipedia administrators face significant challenges when creating articles based on foreign-language sources.
"The fact should be taken into account that Wikipedia articles are built and expanded based on sources. Reliable, unbiased, and academically sound sources strengthen the positions of Wikipedia contributors. These reliable sources include articles about Azerbaijan published in prestigious academic and scientific journals worldwide," Elturk said.
"Today, in the foreign language versions of Wikipedia, there are experienced volunteers who do their best for Azerbaijan. Their labor should not be disregarded. On November 13, the "Fuzuli" article will be featured on the main page of the English-language Wikipedia, which receives millions of clicks. This will help protect at least one of Azerbaijan's historical figures from Persianization, which can be considered a success for our 'Wikipedians'," he added.
The Azerbaijani Wikipedia was launched in January 2002. It has over 196,000 articles and 19,408 uploaded files in its content, as well as 278,475 registered users (including 16 administrators). The editorial process is being supported by eighteen bots.