13:29, 21 June 2023

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan continues to propagate racist stereotypes and perpetuate animosities, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said in its 6th report on Azerbaijan.

It said that public discourse in Azerbaijan has been marked by the use of inflammatory rhetoric in public statements by politicians, including at the highest political level, and other public figures, as well as by the wide dissemination of hateful and dehumanising content against Armenia.

The report stated that discriminatory language in Azerbaijani school textbooks against Armenians exists.

“In this context, ECRI is deeply concerned that the use of hate speech linked to the long-lasting conflict and confrontations with neighbouring country Armenia, has been observed among young people in and outside schools and could eventually provide a breeding ground for further hostilities,” the ECRI said in the report.

The commission also addressed the infamous “Trophy Park” in Baku.

“The opening of the Baku Trophy Park in April 2021, where Armenian military equipment and personnel were portrayed very negatively, also raised a lot of criticism. ECRI shares the grave concerns expressed by other international bodies, including the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and the CERD about the language of “aggression” and regular resort to adversarial narratives that propagates racist stereotypes and perpetuates animosities.”

“ECRI has received numerous reports with graphic accounts of violence against Armenians, including wilful killings or the extensive destruction of their property during and after the 2020 armed conflict and confrontations in and around Nagorno-Karabakh,” it added.