Armenophobia in Azerbaijan

Abuse in respect of Armenians and persons who are related to them or have expressed a positive opinion on them

Azerbaijani director: “Had there been a boy instead of a little girl, I would bang his head against the wall for asking me if I was Armenian”.

Publika.az published a story by Shamil Sadig entitled “Armenian Child”, with its plot most probably unfolding in Russia during a rehearsal dedicated to Aghdam events of 1992. Under the guidance of an Azerbaijani director nicknamed Lamakan, children learn poems about Khojaly and the anthem of Azerbaijan. However, things advance slowly, because according to the director, “children do not feel the essence of the tragedy”.

After another session at the arts and leisure center, as the director is about to leave, a group of primary school pupils enters the room accompanied by their teacher of Russian. A blond girl comes up to the director and asks: “Mister, are you Armenian?”

The director describes his indignation and outrage over the question, but tells of patting the girl’s head and answering that he was not Armenian, but Azerbaijani. To his friends, who witnessed this incident, he said that had there been a boy instead of a little girl, he would have banged his head against the wall to show what it meant to be an Armenian.

As the story unfolds, after a while, the same girl approaches him and supposedly says: “Do you know that you are our enemies? Your grandfathers killed our grandfathers and grandmothers. My mom says that I should have no friends form among Turks, that they are our eternal enemies. The story further describes how a grown-up man enters a debate with a young child and sets out to prove to her that Armenians are to blame for the events of Khojaly. The teacher of Russian steps in and takes the child away from the Azerbaijanis.404

On July 30, 2013, in the military unit № 48315 of the city of Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast, Emil Abdullayev, an old-timer conscript of Azerbaijani origin (who had served 8 months) attacked an Armenian, Jean Meroyan, who had just taken his oath of allegiance. The incident took place in the toilet, with the Azerbaijani first shouldering the Armenian aside and then in reply to his question of why he had done so, all of a sudden charged at the Armenian hitting him and breaking his jaw.405

Demands to isolate ethnic Armenians from public venues

The Azerbaijani football club Simurg demanded from the management of the Limаk Atlаntis hotel in Antalya to evict players and the staff of the Armenian club Gandzasar who stayed at the same hotel. “It is not clear how could the management of the hotel in their right mind host at the same hotel teams from Azerbaijan and Armenia”, stated a representative of Simurg. “Either we will check out without paying, or the management will evict the Armenian team”, stated the representatives of the Azerbaijani club.406

Ramiz Mamedov, the coach of the Kazakh Atyrau team, aired his position about the Armenian forward, Tigran Gharabaghtsyan, who had a contract with the club. “As far as I know, Gharabaghtsyan is no longer a player of Atyrau. But if it is not so, I’m in for a conversation with the club’s management. If I work with Atyrau, there will be no Armenians around”, stated Mamedov.407

Accusations against business entities for parallel business projects with both Armenia and Azerbaijan

This results in exhorting their business partners to cease economic contacts with ethnic Armenians or companies owned by Armenians or with Armenian staff members.

An Iranian company running buses between Tabriz and Yerevan rents an office in Baku International Bus Terminal. “A reader of our information resource was concerned over this fact. As reported by AZE.az, the Iranian company which runs buses between Tabriz and Yerevan rents an office in Baku International Bus Terminal. This information was communicated by our reader, Samira Aliyeva, who had lately arrived from Tabriz. As can be seen from the ticket enclosed, Aram Safar Company provides passenger transportation to Istanbul, Yerevan, Ankara, Syria, Van and Baku. By the way, the capital of Azerbaijan is mentioned last for some reason.408

Azerbaijan demanded explanation from the official Ankara over operating flights between Van and Yerevan. “The opening of this flight does not comply with Turkey’s position on the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands”, stated Ali Ahmedov, Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan. <…> As long as Azerbaijani lands are not liberated from the occupation, we don’t want any easing in the relationship between Turkey and Armenia”.409

Organization of armenophobic events involving the residents of the countries where they are held

Habib Abdullayev (Muntazir), an Azerbaijani who lives in Germany, was fined by a court verdict to pay a sum of 900 euros for disparaging comments about the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Habib Abdullayev was detained on June 22, 2010 as he was shouting anti-Armenian slogans during the visit of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Berlin.410

Indiscriminate use of international platforms for armenophobic propaganda

Another anti-Armenian provocation attempt was thwarted at 18th International Book Fair held in Minsk in 2011. Armenia and Azerbaijan presented their stands at the fair; however, the Azerbaijani delegation preferred to cram their stand with anti-Armenian propaganda materials rather than any interesting literature. The Armenian delegation immediately drew the organizers’ attention to this inadmissible fact by noting that Armenia featured at the fair mostly literature on culture, while Azerbaijan presented literature containing unabashed anti-Armenian falsifications and xenophobic propaganda. As a result, the Azerbaijani stand was closed down, and the Azerbaijani delegation was forced to leave the fair and discontinue its participation.411

Zarifa Salahova, owner of the museum and collection of miniature books: In 2004, I visited the United States as a part of an Azerbaijani delegation of art historians and museum workers, <…>. Imagine the situation; when I took the floor, all members of the delegation except Alla Bayramova, director of the Museum of Culture, tried to dissuade me from this undertaking as “we didn’t come for that”. I sharply retorted that I knew better and told the Americans of our pain. Later, we were accommodated in host American families. There again, I spent two and a half hours telling them the story of Karabakh on the very first evening. I gave them printed materials and a CD in English. Every evening, my host family received different guests who listened to my story of the tragedy of Karabakh with interest. I was invited to visit other Americans and I always started my conversation with Karabakh. Once, my hosts asked for my permission to introduce me to an American Armenian whose ancestors had moved to the United States in late 19th century. He told me of Armenia’s difficult situation in late 2004 and considered that if Armenians did not give us back Karabakh, their lot would be even harsher.412

Public scandals and intimidation of representatives of international and foreign organizations and structures

At the international conference “Music for Democracy” held in Baku, an argument erupted between Chingiz Ganizadeh, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, and Volker Beck, a deputy of Germany’s Bundestag. In his address to those attending the conference, the Azerbaijani deputy aired his indignation over the fact that “a person who did not acknowledge the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories was invited to attend the conference Music for Democracy, something that elicits feelings of regret and surprise”.413

After the Rabochaya Gazeta Ukrainian newspaper published in its issue of February 23 an article entitled “Imperishable celebration of loyalty, bravery and fortitude”, the staff of the Azerbaijani Vesti.az information agency started terrorizing the editorial staff of the Rabochaya Gazeta Ukrainian newspaper and the author of the article. The article told the story of Hamayak Arshakovich Safaryan, a panel member of the Kiev War Veteran’s Organization noting that “he was born in the ancient Armenian land of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the village of Kemrakuch of Hadrut region”. The Azerbaijani information agency demanded an acknowledgment stating that Nagorno-Karabakh was an Azerbaijani land. After receiving a polite rebuff, Vesti. az voices its indignation: “That’s it! No apologies, no assurances that tomorrow the newspaper will publish a clarification on this matter in its next issue. <…> How can Tolokin, who lives in the remote city of Kiev, know about Armenian guile and perfidy?”.414

Public scandals and intimidation foreign citizens accompanied by verbal abuse

The Azerbaijani website Vesti.az: The news that the famous Turkish singer Sezen Aksu will sing the song Sari Gelin in Armenian and will include it into her new album, became an unpleasant surprise to me. This is another occasion for Armenians to pass the Azerbaijani song Sari Gelin as an ‘anthem of love’ of the Armenian Ashot and his ‘chick’ Haykanush. I think that you will agree that this occasion is meaningful as it is a Turkish woman who sings this song in Armenian. Although after what happened, I doubt that this singer really has Turkish blood running through her veins.415

Akif Islamzadeh, singer: As far as Sezen Aksu is concerned, I can understand her: she has lost her voice and she needs money. Her hoarse-voiced singing will do for Armenians; for them, she will be like Montserrat Caballe. And my advice to her would be not to politicize this song and pay more attention to her reputation.416

Unsolicited junk mail with armenophobic contents and calls against people who are viewed as holding a pro-Armenian position.

Akif Nagi, the chairman of the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO), addressed a letter to the Pope Benedict XVI in protest against the canonization of the late Pope John Paul II because he did not support the Azerbaijani position in the Karabakh conflict. “During his visit to Yerevan in September 2003, he paid tribute to the tombs of Armenians killed in the Karabakh war” and therefore, may not be canonized.417

Involvement of foreigners to give weight to their position

“Armenia is a cancerous tumor on the body of the Southern Caucasus and must be removed”, stated the historian Guram Marhuliya (decorated with Tereggi medal and bestowed an honorable doctorate from the History Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan of his merit in developing scientific ties between Georgia and Azerbaijan) who had been dismissed from the Sukhumi State University on charges of armenophobia, in an interview to the Azerbaijani Vesti.Az information agency.418

Publications in foreign press containing abusive headings or insulting epithets

The authors of such articles are mainly representatives of the diplomatic corps of Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijanis who live there. As a rule, xenophobic articles are purported to represent the opinion of the editorial staff, the journalist or the public at large.

A Mexican newspaper published an article entitled Armenian Duplicity: The Mexican Milenio newspaper published an article entitled Armenian Duplicity by Ilgar Mukhtarov, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the country.419

The Azerbaijani website 1news.соm.tr: The Azerbaijani popular song Sari Gelin passed for an Armenian song and performed in the presence of the Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Davutoglu raised uproar in the Azerbaijani mass media.420

The Azerbaijani website Anspress: The artistic director of the ATV (Azad Azərbaycan) channel and a famous anchorperson Elchin Alibeyli has been dismissed from the TV channel. E. Alibeyli has been removed from office after performing the song Sari Gelin in Armenian. <…> Getting his spirits high at a party, Elchin Alibeyli started singing in Armenian a part from Sari Gelin. Many representatives of the show business and mass media attending the party became witnesses to this “gift” of the famous anchorperson. <…> According to the sources of Lent.az at the channel, Elchin was dismissed from his office starting from yesterday precisely for performing the Azerbaijani popular song Sari Gelin in Armenian.421

The Russian Informational Agency Regnum: On his Facebook page, Elsever Salmanov, the staff member of the Azerbaijani embassy in Ankara, voiced strident criticism against the Turkish newspaper Radikal. The cause for resentment was the fact that the newspaper in its highlight of a musical festival in Ankara, mentioned the Armenian song Sari Gelin. In this connection, the Azerbaijani diplomat said that either the Turkish newspaper had Armenians in its staff who had betrayed their editorial principles and were guided by national feelings, or the journalists served Armenians at the call of their hearts.

Incidentally, he exhorted all like-minded persons to raise their voice of protest against Radikal and Armenians, respectively. This brought a sharp reaction from the editorial staff. <…> “Yeni Musavat newspaper observes that Rаdikаl has been previously noted for its “anti-Azerbaijani position”, while the website Teref.infо considers that indicating Sari Gelin as an Armenian song became a result of a conflict and lack of coordination between the newspaper and Azerbaijan’s diplomatic mission in Ankara.422

It must be noted that the song Sari Gelin is one of the bitter pills in virtually unclouded relationships between brotherly Turkey and Azerbaijan. In Armenia and Turkey, this song is considered Armenian. In particular, G. Karanfil, a Turkish scholar, considers that the song Sari Gelin has its roots in a nameless Armenian song that has become a part of the Turkish culture over the centuries.423 This opinion is shared by many Turkish scholars and musicians, which ignites a firestorm in official and cultural milieu of Azerbaijan claiming the authorship of the song as its own. Any publication containing a mention of the word Armenian with reference to this song provokes a huge social and diplomatic uproar in Azerbaijan. The matter may go as far as to cause the country’s diplomatic missions to step in.

All these activities are meaningful and significant for those who live in Azerbaijan. This creates a false perception of the omnipotence and infallibility of Azerbaijan’s positions in their unequal fight in the face of the enemy personified by Armenians. Frequently, the citizens of the country permeated with armenophobia find themselves outside its boundaries to face a different and unknown reality: It turns out that there are Armenians there, and they coexist perfectly well with Azerbaijanis who “flout honor and faith” by interacting, having common business, falling in love, marrying or even spending their leisure with Armenians.

Such discovery can cause a psychological trauma to any person for whom “patriotism” and armenophobia are synonymous.

We came to a famous restaurant named Lights of the Orient. It was an Azerbaijani restaurant, and once I set foot in the place, I felt the scent of my motherland. All the personnel and waiters were Azerbaijanis. We took a table with my friends and after taking a few bits, I turned my attention to the singer. Somehow he didn’t look like one of us.

Oh Allah… it couldn’t be true! The singer was Armenian. I almost choked on my food and couldn’t swallow, so I took out the bit and put it on my plate. Of course, my friends knew about my patriotism; therefore, they quickly figured out everything and started appeasing me. By that time, I was struck speechless. <…> I sensed that Intigam was ashamed of something and felt uneasy. I inquired about the singer’s nationality and was given the answer: Armenian. I felt as if my head were scalded with boiling water. <…> Let Armenians come to our restaurant, get a poisoning and return to where they came from.

<…> We are a very hospitable people, which is the reason of all our woes and tribulations that plagued us. However, the fact that an Armenian singer worked in our restaurant was unbearable. However, the most unbearable was yet to come!

<…> The Armenians started singing, and the folks at the next table – elderly women, young girls and children – stood up and started dancing. There were about 10 of them, and they dominated the place. It turned out that the dancing people too were Armenians. I was dumbfounded with shock and indignation. I felt as though somebody were publicly throwing the vilest abuse and obscenities at me. <…> “Be damned, Armenian”, cursed I in my mind and asked him to sing Tut Agaci. <…> Oh, Allah, to this day, I have never been more humiliated and insulted. It seemed that up to that moment, I hadn’t known my true character. I never knew that I was so inpatient, sensible and patriotic.

<…> As a true Turk and a son of Turk, I made up my mind to cry in solitude. My soul was ablaze, a firestorm was raging inside, but my crying was not that of helplessness and defeat. No, these were tears that allowed me to vent my hatred and cold determination that I was seizing with. <…> Indeed, those who in one way or another work with Armenians and deal with them for business don’t even deserve to be called ‘traitors of their country”.424

Those who realize that there is a divergent reality inside and outside Azerbaijan and break the taboo by opting for a closer contact with Armenians are targeted for attacks by the authorities. The ultimate destiny of these people and their family members is unenviable.

The daughter of a high-ranking official in the Azerbaijani government who pursues her studies in London became romantically involved with an Armenian; in official circles of Azerbaijan, the news was received with shock. Learning of this affair, other Azerbaijanis who studied in London raised a wave of outcry under the leadership of Tale Heydarov, chairman of the European Azerbaijan Society and the son of Kamaladdin Heydarov, the Minister of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan. They demanded from the authorities to make the girl’s father take measures and “put an end to that disgrace”. The country’s leadership demanded to return the girl to Azerbaijan without delay.425

The double defeat of Teimour Radjabov by Levon Aronyan on the chess tournament held in London was pegged as ‘shameful’ in Azerbaijan as the tournament was sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) which spent 2 million euros on its organization.<…> Radjabov already became impudent back at the time of Heydar Aliyev. <…> It appears that after his marriage or more precisely after he started leading a lavish lifestyle, Radjabov has lost his form”. “On a tournament financed by Azerbaijan, a representative of our country has lost to an Armenian. The point is that no Azerbaijani chess player has a potential to win at this tournament. Spending millions of dollars to finance a tournament in London with participation of an Armenian in full awareness of this fact is a disgrace. How are our officials any different from the Arab sheikhs, who have a reputation of prodigal spenders, if they squander away over 2 million euros for Radjabov’s participation in the London tournament?”.426

14. Destruction of the cultural and historic Armenian heritage

The destruction of monuments of Armenian culture and history on the territory of Azerbaijan fulfills an important psychological task: the obliteration of historical symbols sacred for the enemy delivers a blow to the most vulnerable spot of the community. Arlene Audergon in her book entitled The War Hotel: Psychological Dynamics in Violent Conflict notes that the destruction of culture has always been and continues to be one of the main terror tactics purporting to strip the victim of any memories linking him/her to the community.427

Here, the collective spirit as a whole is at stake. One way to erase human memory and retouch the history comes down to destroying monuments, statues and temples. The war on the historical legacy of Armenians waged on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan employs precisely this approach. A renowned orientalist and academician N. Y. Marr particularly noted with reference to Armenian khachkars: “this monument reflects each step of development of national architecture, and often combines both currents of the Armenian architecture: the spiritual and the secular. Khachkar truly represents the “memory of the land of our fathers” communicating with an extraordinary force and precision the spirit of the Armenian art”.

The sad fate of the Armenian memorial cemetery of Jugha, pearl of the world culture on the territory of the Armenian Nakhijevan, which was destroyed by order of the Azerbaijani authorities, must be viewed in this context.

“Nakhijevan of the ancient Armenians, Naxuana of classic writers, an uyezd city of the Erivan Governorate perched at an altitude of around 3,000 feet above sea level on the foothills of the Karabakh upland. According to legend, it was founded by Noah whose tomb is shown by local Armenians. Some Persian and Armenian historians date its foundation to 1539 B.C.428 A well-known orientalist Heinrich Hübschmann wrote that the toponym “Nakhijevan” originates from the Armenian prefix “nakh-” and the root “avan” meaning “the place of the first landing”.429

The region was known by ancient Greek authors by its name of either “Nakhijevan” or “Naxuana”. A Jewish historian Flavius Josephus calls the place “Apobatherion” – literal translation of the Armenian toponym. He wrote: “And then, when the ark stopped atop a mountain in Armenia, and Noah observed this, the latter opened it and seeing a patch of land near the ark hoped for the best and was reassured <…>. This place is referred by Armenians as “the site of the landing” and to this day they show there the remains preserved from the ark”.430

Throughout the 20th century, especially after the transfer of Armenian Nakhijevan “under the patronage” of the Soviet Azerbaijan, a program of de-Armenizing the region was launched, including a complete obliteration of ancient Armenian material culture. Incidentally, the Muslim population in Nakhijevan was so scant that even in the early nineteenth century there were only six mosques in the area. Meanwhile, the region had over 200 Armenian monasteries, churches and chapels.431

The khachkars of Jugha, the well-known cross-stones432 predominantly dating to the XIII–XVIII centuries, are marvelous monuments and distinctive specimens of Christian memorial architecture.

The French traveler Alexandre de Rhodes (1591–1660), who visited the area in 1648, wrote: “Beyond the walls of that city (Julfa), which is now only desert, I saw a beautiful monument to the ancient piety of Armenians. This is an extensive territory in which there are at least ten thousands of marble tombstones, all amazingly well engraved. A large white marble slab twelve feet height and eight feet wide can be seen at each grave with many beautiful shapes engraved around a large cross. It is very pleasing to see such a large number of marble slabs”.433

In 1603, one of the first British travelers to Persia and Armenia John Newbery, left the following entries in his memoirs:

Four days journey from Merenta [Maranda] and a day journey from Julfa, there is a wooden pontoon bridge; there was once a stone bridge, but it disintegrated. And Aras – this is the name the river – flows in front of the city, and the city itself lies at the foot of mountains. This city has three thousands houses and seven churches…434

It is widely known that in Middle Ages Jugha was a thriving Armenian city. However, in 1604, the Persian shah Abbas forcibly resettled its inhabitants to Isfahan, which to this day has an Armenian quarter known as New Jugha. Many travelers visited the ruins of the destroyed city and its cemetery over the years.