Videos of Armenians and Azerbaijanis Raising the Iranian and Israeli Flags Are Outdated

Misbar investigated the circulating claim and found it to be misleading. 

A Reverse Image Search and a Google Advanced Search revealed that the images are outdated.

The two videos began recirculating after Raoul Lowery Contreras, a journalist for the New York Times, republished the two merged videos on September 14, 2022. He published them first in a tweet on October 31, 2021.

The first video depicts Armenian protesters raising the Iranian flag while calling for the resignation of the Pashinyan government headed by Nikol Pashinyan in October 2021.

The second video dates back to November 10, 2020. It shows Azerbaijanis waving the Israeli flag on the back of a bus following a victory celebration over Armenia after a clash that lasted for days. 

Persistent Protests Call for Nikol Pashinyan’s Resignation

Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation has been the demand of Armenian protesters for a long time.

Following conflicts between the forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border on September 13, 2022, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the parliament building in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on Wednesday to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The demonstrators demanded that the government resign and that Pashinyan should not get a vote of confidence.

The protesters responded to Pashinyan's statements expressing that he wanted to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan in his speech to parliament earlier.

Azerbaijan's Triumph Over Armenia in 2020

On November 10, Ilham Aliyev, the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, gave a speech to the people after the victory over Armenia. "It is a historic day for our country today. An end is being put to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict today. The statement has been signed by the President of Azerbaijan, President of Russia and Prime Minister of Armenia," Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan's victory came at the cost of nearly 2,800 soldiers, dozens of civilians, and billions of dollars in armaments.

However, the peace agreement negotiated by Moscow and signed in November gave it back strategic parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, including seven districts surrounding the mountainous area that was formerly inhabited by ethnic Azeris. The area has since turned into a no-man’s land dotted with abandoned towns and minefields.

2022 Armenia-Azerbaijan Deadly Clashes

Armenia reported a total of 105 service members killed in the clashes, while Azerbaijan confirmed the deaths of 50 of its own soldiers. Both sides assert that no civilians have died in the conflict.

There has long been animosity between the two nations over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Since the end of a separatist war in the region in 1994, the region has been governed by ethnic Armenian forces with Armenia's support.

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Outdated Images Circulated in Relation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Clashes

These Photos Are Not Related to the Recent Armenia-Azerbaijan Clashes