BBC tells world about ‘bug’ of Azerbaijani Defense Ministry website which removed Armenian flag from Victory Day parade photo
The Armenian flag, which could be seen right behind the Azerbaijani one during the live broadcast of the Victory Day parade in Moscow, inexplicably disappeared from the photo posted on the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry website, BBC Russian service reports.
The representatives of the Armed Forces of many countries took part in the parade on Red Square in Moscow to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. As far as the march of the foreign countries’ military contingents was organized in alphabetical order, the Armenian soldiers marched right behind the Azerbaijanis. However, the Armenian flag, which could be seen right behind the Azerbaijani one during the live broadcast of the Victory Day parade in Moscow, inexplicably disappeared from the photo posted on the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry website. The Defense Ministry declined to comment on the reports, according to the article.
Well-known Azerbaijani military expert Uzeir Jafarov told BBC he had no doubt that photomontage had been applied.
“It is obvious photoshop. Besides, it seems a lot of work has been done on that. If you pay attention you can see that even some adjustments had to be made in the architecture of the building in the background of the photo,” he said.
Jafarov added that according to the ministry sources, they themselves did not expect that the soldiers from Azerbaijan and Armenia would march one behind the other. They were on different parts of the square during the rehearsals.
“One way or another, this does not justify the manipulations with the photo as it can be immediately noticed. The ministry was not the only one to publish the photo after all. Our soldiers marched in a ceremonial parade. They held Israeli arms conforming to NATO standards - and all this just for a photoshoot? To me, it is unworthy,” he noted.
The changed photo is now actively being discussed in the social media in Azerbaijan, according to the article.
The information website EurasiaNet writes that unfortunately for Azerbaijan military PR the photo prominently featured the flag of the Armenian soldiers right behind.
The hope that May 9 would become a day in which, at least for a short while, could bring peace to the relations of the neighbors, was dashed fairly quickly -- on the official Azerbaijan MoD website published a photo in which the Armenian flag was erased. And not very well at that -- the historical museum lost a window, the article reads.
EurasiaNet reminds that Azerbaijan was itself the victim of “geopolitical Photoshopping” of Iran. In 2014, an Iranian newspaper printed photos of the Spanish football team Atletico Madrid, then sponsored by Azerbaijan, with the "Azerbaijan: Land of Fire" logo airbrushed off the players' jerseys.
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