Azerbaijan promotes 'Western Azerbaijan culture' narrative through international platforms, report says

Azerbaijan is systematically promoting the concept of “Western Azerbaijan culture” across international platforms, the Artsakh Monument Watch warns.

The latest example came in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where the Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi hosted the presentation of a book titled “Stories of Western Azerbaijan” as part of the project “The Theme of Western Azerbaijan in the Turkic World”. The initiative was implemented by the World Union of Young Turkic Writers with funding from Azerbaijan’s Agency for State Support to NGOs.

The Monument Watch noted that such projects go beyond literature, reflecting a broader cultural policy aimed at spreading the Azerbaijani state narrative that presents Armenia’s historical territories as part of a “lost homeland” and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan.

The report stressed that by engaging academic and cultural institutions across Turkic countries, Azerbaijan seeks to promote the idea of Western Azerbaijan as a center of Azerbaijani identity. "These efforts through books, films, exhibitions and educational programs are part of a campaign to legitimize the “Western Azerbaijan” concept as historical fact and to use culture as a political tool for shaping territorial and historical claims," it added.