Video of People Waving Russian and Turkish Flags in Azerbaijan Is Outdated
The Claim
A recent video shows people waving Russian and Turkish flags in Azerbaijan.
News posted on
Emerging story
A video features Azerbaijanis in Baku celebrating and waving the flags of Russia and Turkey following their victory in Nagorno-Karabakh during the recent military offensive.
An X user published the video along with the caption, "The victory in the war against Nagorno-Karabakh is celebrated in Baku, waving the flags of Russia and Turkey. Once again, we were convinced that this was a Russian-Turkish war against 120,000 peaceful Armenians."
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the video and found the claim to be misleading.
A thorough reverse image search revealed the video making the rounds to be older than claimed.
The Video Shows Russians Marching in Azerbaijan in 2020
Contrary to the claim, the video was not shot recently. ŞEDEVR, a news page, shared a screenshot of the video on Facebook on October 31, 2020.
According to the page, the photo features the Russian community in Azerbaijan marching in Baku in support of Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia from September to November 2020.
The ŞEDEVR Telegram channel also shared the photo at the time with the same caption.
Misbar's team compared the published photo with the viral video and found stark similarities between them.
Armenia and Azerbaijan Cease-Fire in 2020
In October 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to a new cease-fire in their ongoing conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. This agreement came days after a previously negotiated truce had fallen apart.
The cease-fire officially began at midnight, but similar to a Russian-brokered cease-fire reached a week earlier, fighting persisted. Later, both sides accused each other of violating the truce.
France claimed to have mediated this latest cease-fire, with involvement from Russia and the United States in the days leading up to the announcement at the time.
Moreover, news websites published video clips showing cars displaying Russian and Turkish flags, closely resembling the scene in the recently circulated video. They reported that these videos show a cortege initiated by the Russian community in Baku, Azerbaijan, in support of the Azerbaijani army during its conflict with Armenia.
Azerbaijan-Armenia Recent Offensive
Ethnic Armenians living in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan have agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Russia. This decision comes a day after Azerbaijan launched an offensive to regain control of the territory.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has confirmed that an agreement for a ceasefire has been reached in the ethnically Armenian-populated mountainous region.
Armenian authorities have reported at least 27 casualties resulting from Azerbaijan's military operation, while Baku claims that at least one of its soldiers was killed, attributing the blame to Yerevan's troops.
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The Video Shot During the 2022 Azerbaijan-Armenia Conflict, Not Recent Clashes
