American pop star Katy Perry waved the Azerbaijani flag on stage in Baku on Friday, September 25, as Leyla Aliyeva and Arzu Aliyeva, daughters of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev, watched from the audience. Perry headlined the entertainment program of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku Crystal Hall.
Perry’s dancers handed her the Azerbaijani flag, which she raised on a pole atop the stage. She repeatedly shouted “Azerbaijan!” to the crowd, Media.az reported. She also told the audience they should be very proud of Baku, thanked them for inviting her and called it her first but not her last visit, according to Media.az and 1news.az.
Azerbaijani outlets presented the moment as a personal endorsement. Ax?am.az headlined that Perry “waved our flag in Baku,” and the story was republished across Azerbaijani media within hours, while the same report acknowledged the flag had been handed to her during the show.
The image arrived almost 3 years after Aliyev raised the Azerbaijani flag over occupied Stepanakert on October 15, 2023, weeks after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. Aliyev knelt to kiss the flag before raising it, and Azerbaijani media filmed him walking over an Artsakh flag laid on the ground.
The concert fell on the third anniversary of the Berkadzor fuel depot explosion near Stepanakert, in which 218 Armenians were martyred on September 25, 2023. Azerbaijan forcibly displaced 120,000 Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) that week, after a 9-month blockade and a military assault on the civilian population.
F1 moved this year’s race from Sunday, September 27, to Saturday at the request of the Baku promoter and “relevant government stakeholders” to accommodate Azerbaijan’s “Remembrance Day.” Aliyev created the day by decree in December 2020 to honor Azerbaijani soldiers killed in the 44-Day War.
Azerbaijan launched that war against Artsakh on September 27, 2020, with Turkish support, Syrian mercenaries and Israeli drones. More than 3,825 Armenians were martyred.
Perry joins a list of international stars Baku has used to polish its image. At the same Grand Prix in 2024, Will Smith wore an “I Love Azerbaijan” T-shirt on stage, and that same month content creator Nas Daily portrayed Azerbaijan as a model of “tolerance.” Past Baku Grand Prix headliners also include Christina Aguilera, Dua Lipa and Mariah Carey.
As F1 drew global audiences to Baku, 19 Armenian hostages remained unlawfully held at the Umbaki Penitentiary Complex. They include former Artsakh presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan, former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, former Foreign Minister David Babayan and former National Assembly Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan.
The hostages were sentenced in sham trials at the Baku Military Court that Amnesty International called “a travesty and a mockery of justice.” Azerbaijan expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross in September 2025.
In July, Perry publicly objected when the White House used her song “Firework” in a video about strikes on Iran, saying she did not condone it. As of Saturday, she had not commented on Baku.
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