Pop concert aired on 2020 war anniversary causes Armenia’s public TV company to apologize

Armenia’s state-funded TV Channel 1 triggered criticism on Sunday for airing an entertainment concert on the sixth anniversary of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

The TV company faced public backlash for airing a performance by pop singer Tata Simonyan, raising questions about whether entertainment programs like this are appropriate as thousands of Armenians headed to graveyards, including the Yerablur cemetery in Yerevan, to commemorate the fallen soldiers.

“Broadcasting an entertainment concert on September 27 was an erroneous decision, and we fully accept responsibility for what happened,” the channel said in a statement.

Simonyan also criticized the decision, saying that it was unacceptable to broadcast the concert on September 27.

“I apologize for what happened, but I have to make a note that the material was used without consulting me,” he said, explaining that the TV company owns the broadcasting rights for the concert.

The public TV company was also criticized earlier this month for not reporting on the third anniversary of Azerbaijan’s one-day offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19. The offensive led to the exodus of all Armenians from the region in 2023 following Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing campaign.

These incidents come amid a broader perception that Armenia’s state-owned media seek to minimize references to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in recent years, in line with the government’s efforts to avoid rhetoric that could trigger diplomatic tensions amid normalization efforts with Azerbaijan.