Azernews.Az

The Azerbaijani culture ministry has expressed its discontent over the film "Karabakh wounds" by Bulgarian journalist Tsvetana Paskaleva, who defended the position of Armenia in the long-standing conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

"In fact, this movie is taken from previously documented materials. Now, they have combined these into a series. Ms Paskaleva is a vile person who works only freelance. She was even awarded the rank of colonel of the ‘Karabakh army’," head of the ministry's Film Propaganda and Registration Department Yusuf Sheikhov told the Baku-based Trend news agency.

Paskaleva, the film's director and screenwriter, has been shooting footage that favors the Armenian position since 1990. She is shooting a three and a half hour film about the Karabakh conflict, which has been put into a series of seven episodes and translated into six languages.

Paskaleva believes that young Armenians who watch this movie should realize and appreciate the price paid for what is described as liberating Artsakh [the word used by Armenians for Karabakh, an occupied Azerbaijani region].

"The Culture and Tourism Ministry has no authority to prevent the display of films around the world, but in response to this we can shoot new films about the Karabakh conflict," Sheikhov said.

Nagorno Karabakh has been occupied by Armenian armed forces, along with seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions, since a 1994 cease-fire ended a war that killed an estimated 30,000 people. Peace talks, brokered by US, Russian and French mediators, have been largely fruitless so far.