Universal Code of Conduct/Coordinating Committee/Cases/2026/Systemic UCoC and governance violations on Armenian Wikipedia

This case is declined. If you have comments or a request to have it reopened, post a comment on the talk page.

U4C member alert: @U4C: Barkeep49, Borschts, BRPever, Civvì, Denis Barthel, EggRoll97, EPIC, Ferien, Ghilt, Luke081515, PBradley-WMF, Superzerocool, Toadspike, ToprakM, Torque, 기나ㅏㄴ. Cavid.122 (talk) 17:58, 10 July 2026 (UTC)

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Cavid.122

Description of the problem - (Cavid.122)

I am writing to formally submit a comprehensive report regarding severe, persistent, and organized violations of Wikipedia’s core principles—specifically Neutral Point of View (WP:NPOV), Verifiability (WP:V), and the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC)—within the Armenian language Wikipedia (hy.wikipedia.org), specifically on the core article concerning the Republic of Azerbaijan ("Ադրբեջան").

When a localized language community operates as an isolated echo chamber completely devoid of global oversight, it ceases to function as an encyclopedia and transforms into an active vehicle for state-sponsored geopolitical propaganda and digital hostility. Below is the documented evidence of egregious policy breaches that require immediate global meta-intervention.

1. Gross Violations of Global NPOV and Defiance of International Law The lead section of the sovereign country article for Azerbaijan on hy.wikipedia openly rejects the established legal framework of the United Nations and international consensus. The text explicitly defines UN-recognized, sovereign territories of Azerbaijan as being "occupied by Azerbaijan" (2020-2023) and lists a long-dissolved, unrecognized illegal junta as an active neighboring state. - The Policy Breach: This directly violates the global WP:NPOV policy, which mandates that articles must reflect neutral, mainstream international reality, not regional irredentist narratives. - The Legal Counter-Evidence: UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874, and 884 explicitly and unconditionally reaffirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, demanding the withdrawal of occupying forces from its lands. By framing a sovereign nation's restoration of its constitutional order over its own borders as an "occupation," hy.wikipedia is actively laundering illegal separatist propaganda under the guise of encyclopedic content.

2. Systemic Historical Revisionism and Geopolitical Disinformation The historical components of the article utilize completely fabricated, non-academic narratives designed to undermine the historical legitimacy of Azerbaijan. The text states that "the Kremlin transferred Naxçıvan and Artsakh from Historical Armenia to Soviet Azerbaijan in 1921." - The Policy Breach: This is a severe breach of WP:VERIFY and WP:FRINGE, injecting politically motivated, heavily biased revisionist history as undisputed fact. - The Historical Counter-Evidence: Mainstream Western academic consensus and original archival documentation from the Caucasus Bureau (Kavbyuro) session on July 5, 1921, explicitly state that Karabakh was to be "retained within" (ostavit v sostave) Azerbaijan SSR, proving it was already an integral administrative part of Azerbaijan, not a "gift" or a "transfer" from another entity. Distorting historical treaty realities (such as the Treaties of Moscow and Kars of 1921 regarding Naxçıvan) is a deliberate attempt to mislead global readers.

3. Cultural Appropriation and Erasure of Caucasian Albanian Heritage The article engages in the total appropriation of the ancient state of Caucasian Albania, its geography, and its historical figures. It explicitly labels the prominent early medieval indigenous historian Movses Kankatvatsi (Movses Kagankatvatsi) as an "Armenian historian" and claims the etymology of the entire region of "Alu/Aqvank" stems exclusively from Armenian language roots. - The Policy Breach: This is a clear violation of WP:WEIGHT, systematically erasing the distinct cultural, linguistic, and political identity of the indigenous Caucasian Albanian population to support a modern nationalist narrative. - The Academic Counter-Evidence: Prominent neutral Western scholars and Orientalists, including Vladimir Minorsky and Robert H. Hewsen, have clearly demonstrated that Caucasian Albania possessed its own distinct, autocephalous Church, an independent ethno-political identity, and a unique Caucasian linguistic substrate. Labeling the entire indigenous heritage of this geography as "exclusively Armenian" is a textbook case of academic dishonesty and cultural erasure.

4. Violation of the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) - Section 3.1 The systemic framing of the entire Azerbaijani nation, its language, and its internationally recognized borders within hy.wikipedia creates an environment of digital hostility and national animosity. Using highly volatile, non-neutral terminology against a sovereign UN member state violates Section 3.1 of the global Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC), which strictly prohibits the use of Wikimedia platforms to promote hate speech, harassment, or geopolitical hostility.

Previous attempts at a solution - (Cavid.122)

I initially submitted a comprehensive report to the Wikimedia Foundation Trust and Safety team. On July 9, the Trust and Safety team responded and officially recommended escalating this matter to the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C), noting that these systemic governance and cross-wiki policy violations fall directly under the U4C's scope.

Suggested solutions - (Cavid.122)

We request that global Stewards and the U4C committee initiate an immediate editorial and governance audit of the administrators of hy.wikipedia to enforce strict compliance with global NPOV and UCoC standards, preventing the platform from being used for geopolitical hostility.

Other feedback

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Discussion between the involved parties and the U4C members

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U4C decision

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Decline votes

• Case was created by a user with 24 global edits and three local edits at hywiki. Regardless of the merits of this case I cannot in good conscience support a case where little or no efforts have been made to resolve the disputes locally. Furthermore I fail to see how 3.1 is violated here, and enwiki policies are largely not relevant to hywiki as each wiki is expected to govern their own community. EPIC (talk) 18:16, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• Per EPIC. I share the concerns about the extremely low edit count and the lack of local engagement. Furthermore this is more a content dispute rather than a UCoC conduct issue to me. Borschts ^Talk 18:29, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• Please address this locally first. --Ghilt (talk) 19:31, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• No links/diffs to support the allegations, no local attempts at resolution, and seems more of a content dispute anyways. Decline for me. EggRoll97 (talk) 20:12, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• Please try locally before resorting to us. --Ferien (talk) 20:46, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• Per above comments. Superzerocool (talk) 23:34, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• Per above. Barkeep49 (talk) 16:15, 11 July 2026 (UTC)

Motions

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Updates

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• We have seen this. On behalf of the U4C, Borschts ^Talk 18:07, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
• The case is declined, with 7 out of 13 members having voted for declining the case. EPIC (talk) 19:30, 11 July 2026 (UTC)