Fast food franchise McDonald’s and Burger King in Azerbaijan weighed in on the clashes that broke out between Armenian-Azerbaijan in September, voicing their support for Azerbaijan, as per a Washington Post report. 

While the posts were removed, the recent clashes that erupted in the Nagorno-Karabakh region were the worst since the 1990s. Fighting in the area had previously killed 30,000 people, and had displaced more than one million people before both sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1994.

An Instagram post by McDonald’s account carries a map of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan along with the caption “Every inch of the land of the Motherland is beloved,” as per a Washington Post report.

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Another post made by a Burger King branch reads, “Victory with you, Azerbaijani Soldier!” adding “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.” Though the account has not been officially verified by Instagram, it posts several promotional materials dating back to years, since its inception, as per a Washington Post report.

Responding to questions asked by news media outlet Washington Post, McDonald’s corporate spokesperson responded saying that the franchise in Azerbaijan had removed the social media post, but refrained from answering questions about the company’s policy on political speech.

The Washington Post further stated that fast food joint Burger King had refrained from answering questions posed by the media outlet and added that posts were made inaccessible after the questions were posed.

“Franchises are set up in order to give freedom to a franchisee to respond to very local market needs,” reported Washington Post quoting Daniel Korschun, an associate professor of marketing.

He added, “This is very clearly a situation where this statement in this very local market can reverberate all through the franchise network.”

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The Armenian National Committee of American-Western Region on Tuesday issued a statement saying that it was, “shocked and appalled by the recent statements made by McDonald’s.”

It also issued calls on Armenian expatriates to “#BoycottHate until action is taken by McDonald’s on this matter,” as per the Washington Post report.

 Professor Korschun added, “We’re going to see more and more franchisees pulling franchisers into controversial political issues,” citing Taiwan and Hong Kong as a case in point.