The sham trials of Nagorno-Karabakh’s former leaders and other Armenian prisoners in Baku expose Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored hatred against Armenians, fueling animosity, obstructing peace efforts and reinforcing Aliyev’s authoritarian grip.
Azerbaijan leverages cultural diplomacy, sports, and economic branding to shape its international image. However, human rights abuses, authoritarianism and Armenophobia undermine its efforts, exposing contradictions in the country’s reputation-building strategies.
Escalating his anti-Armenian rhetoric at COP 29, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also broadened his attacks on Western institutions. Coupling state propaganda with inflammatory speeches, he framed the West as complicit in regional instability and intensifying tensions to deflect attention from his authoritarian regime.
In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of September 8, 2023: Heavy Azerbaijani military buildup around Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia as fears of a new war mount; three students arbitrarily detained by Azerbaijani forces at the Hakari bridge are released; amid escalating tensions, US-Armenia joint military exercise to take place in Armenia next week and more.
After launching an attack against Artsakh in 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has taken every opportunity to take personal credit for Azerbaijan’s military successes, along with his family.
EVN Report’s mission is to empower Armenia, inspire the diaspora and inform the world through sound, credible and fact-based reporting and commentary. Our goal is to increase public trust in the media. EVN Report is the media arm of EVN News Foundation registered in the Republic of Armenia in 2017.
