Amir Aliyev, professor and head of the Azerbaijani Public Association “Center for the Promotion of Human Rights,” has sent a letter to the international media outlet The Guardian, APA reports.
Amir Aliyev sent the letter in response to The Guardian’s recent article about Alexis Pazoumian’s documentary “Black Garden.”
Amir Aliyev stated that when discussing the history of the conflict, the experiences of Azerbaijanis must not be overlooked. According to him, the voices of people displaced from their native lands, as well as the victims and survivors of the Khojaly massacre, must be heard.
He called on The Guardian to also give space to the views of these people and to take into account the facts and perspectives that were not reflected in the publication’s article.
Amir Aliyev’s letter addressed to the editor of The Guardian reads:
“The Guardian’s article about Alexis Pazoumian’s documentary ‘Black Garden’ raises serious concerns. The article fails to mention important facts, including Armenia’s occupation of internationally recognized Azerbaijani territories and the forced displacement of more than one million Azerbaijanis.
Our main concern is that the review published on The Guardian’s website on August 31, 2026, goes beyond discussing the film and presents The Guardian’s own description of the conflict. Referring to Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region as ‘Nagorno-Karabakh,’ the review describes an alleged ‘predominantly Armenian population fighting against countless military campaigns by the Azerbaijani army’ and a ‘territorial dispute lasting for decades.’
The film presents one perspective. However, when a major international media outlet presents historical context in its own voice, that context must be accurate. Karabakh has been and remains internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan. In its 2015 judgment in the case of ‘Chiragov and Others v. Armenia,’ the European Court of Human Rights found that Armenia exercised effective control over the territories in question.
Four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council in 1993 reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and demanded the withdrawal of occupying forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
In line with The Guardian’s commitment to fair and accurate journalism, we ask you to publish this letter in the ‘Letters’ section and give space to Azerbaijanis who have experienced displacement and violence, including the victims and survivors of the Khojaly tragedy, whose voices also deserve to be heard.
We also call on The Guardian to review fact-based documentaries by Azerbaijani filmmakers to ensure that the perspectives of both sides are represented.
We welcome the author contacting us directly and are ready to provide documented research as well as first-hand accounts. At a time when Azerbaijan and Armenia are moving towards reconciliation, balanced approaches are particularly important.
Thank you for your attention.”
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