Baku advances ‘western Azerbaijan’ narrative for new invasion into Armenia, rewriting history - says Iñarritu

The Azerbaijani government’s narrative of “western Azerbaijan” pursues the goal of rewriting history, justifying the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and occupying more territories in Armenia, Spanish Member of Parliament Jon Iñarritu has said.

“As we all know Azerbaijan has begun a new propaganda campaign in an attempt to rewrite history with the so-called claim of ‘western Azerbaijan’, which encompasses nearly the entire territory of Armenia. This narrative’s goal is to justify the ethnic cleansing of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and prepare grounds for a new invasion by calling Armenian lands ‘historic Azerbaijan’, Iñarritu told Armenpress.

According to the Spanish legislator, Azerbaijan thus seeks to exert diplomatic and political pressure on the EU.

“It’s very clear, the ultimate goal of such statements is to exert diplomatic pressure on the EU in an attempt to adjust the union’s activity with Azerbaijan’s interests, often with the use of energy deals,” he added.

Iñarritu said it’s difficult to understand Azerbaijan’s complaints about EUMA, the EU monitoring mission in Armenia. He underscored that the EUMA mandate is clearly outlined by the EU.

“The EU monitoring mission is focused on monitoring the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and preserving international agreements for promoting stability and preventing another conflict. In this regard it is difficult to understand Azerbaijan’s concerns regarding the mission, especially for a country that presumably seeks to sign a peace treaty,” he said.

The Azeri complaints about EUMA could be linked to pressure from other countries, particularly Turkiye or Russia, according to Iñarritu.

“The mission isn’t meant to favor one side over the other, neither is it engaged in intelligence activities. Its main goal is to contribute to the peaceful settlement of disputes, which, certainly contradicts Azerbaijan’s attempts to once again invade Armenia,” the Spanish MP said,  referring to the series of unprovoked Azeri attacks and invasions into Armenia after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Parts of several Armenian provinces have been under Azeri occupation since. 

EUMA was launched in 2023 at the request of Armenia. The mission observes and reports on the security situation along the Armenian side of the international border with Azerbaijan. In January 2025 the EU extended the mandate of the EUMA for a further two years.

In an apparent smear campaign targeting EUMA, the Azeri government has been falsely accusing the mission of conducting intelligence activities and espionage. This has been numerously denied by the EU.