Music: connecting people when… languages differ?

By Reader in Azerbaijan

Two taxis. One in Yerevan and one in Baku. Passengers come and go. An alien, but strangely familiar, music plays.

“Arts can’t be mixed with politics”
“There should be no hatred in arts”
“I have never communicated with them”.
“Turn off the music”.
“People do not think the same as their representatives do”

Passengers voice their opinions. Maybe in any other setting their reactions might seem peculiar.

But…

The music being played in Yerevan is Azerbaijani. The music in Baku is Armenian.

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Time to live together peacefully again

By Marine Ejuryan

“How can you learn Turkish?” my five-year-old cousin asked when he saw my Turkish text-book and asked what the book was for. “They are our enemies, he went on to exclaim. “Turks and Azerbaijanis are bad people… and I hate them!”

Of course, I’m used to hearing these kind of reactions from people when they find out that I study Turkish. More often than not their reaction is “how can you learn ‘their’ language?” It’s either that or questions such as “isn’t it ugly?” (!)

And this is only because, I suppose, ‘their’ language is that of the ‘enemy…’

But what upset me most was my little cousin’s reaction. Even at such a young age he already had that ugly feeling of hatred. Probably it shouldn’t be much of a surprise when they hear stories about “cruel enemies” on TV, radio, in kindergartens, and at school.

Even in families the word “Turk” is a used as curse, and it usually implies both Turks and Azerbaijanis. On the other hand, the expressions “Ermeni” (Armenian) or “Ermeni dölü” (Armenian descendant) are used as insults by Turkish and Azerbaijani people.

Whenever there is need to defame someone, finding any connection or relationship between that person and Armenians is the simplest way. This simply proves once again that state propaganda functions perfectly in our countries.

Ermənistan-Azərbaycan: filmlər vasitəsi ilə dialoq

Müstəqilliklərini əldə etdikdən sonra Dağlıq Qarabağ üzərində gedən hələ də həll olunmamış münaqişəni nəzərə alaraq, Ermənistan və Azərbaycan arasında informasiyanın sərbəst hərəkətinin mümkün olması mürəkkəb məsələdir. Bəs, yeni media bu boşluğu doldura bilərmi? Hər iki ölkədə getdikcə gərginləşən və güzəştə getməyən abu-havanın olması sülh quruculuğu təşəbbüslərində iştirak edən şəxslərin vəziyyətini çətinləşdirir, amma yenə də imkanlar var.

Hər iki ölkənin KİV-də əksini tapan təbliğat xarakterli və bəzən həqiqətə uyğun olmayan xəbərləri nəzərə alaraq, məlumatların alternativ mənbələrdən əldə olunmasında ciddi ehtiyac yaranır. Belə bir ehtiyac əməkdaşlıqlar doğurur və bu əməkdaşlığın bir növünü Ermənistandan, Azərbaycandan və Dağlıq Qarabağdan olan gənc jurnalistlərinin çəkdiyi qısa-metrajli filmləri vasitəsi ilə dialoqun qurulmasına yönələn Internews - Conciliation Resources təşkilatlarının birgə layihələrində tapmaq olar.

1990-cı illərin əvvəllərində Ermənistan və Azərbaycan arasında mübahisəli Dağlıq Qarabağ ərazisi üzərində qızğın müharibə gedirdi. 25 000- dən çox insan həlak olmuş, milyona yaxın isə evlərini tərk etməli olmuşdurlar.

[…]

2006-cı ildə Conciliation Resources münaqişə üzərindən körpü qoyulması məqsədi olan Filmlər vasitəsi ilə Dialoq adlı çox nadir təşəbbüsə başladılar. Təşəbbüsün ideyası Azərbaycandan və Dağlıq Qarabağdan olan gənclərə həyatları barədə qısa-metrajlı filmlər çəkərək biri-biri ilə birbaşa ünsiyyət qurmaları üçün imkan yaradılmasından ibarət idi.

[…]

Belə əməkdaşlığın nəticəsində insanların hərbi münaqişənin yaratdığı fəsadları ilə günü gündən yaşayaraq onların ümidləri, qorxuları və yumor hissləri haqqında filmlər çəkildi.

Sleeping with the Enemy

By Reader in Baku

Prologue

I click a link on Facebook posted by a friend. It takes me to news published in an unfamiliar media outlet. “Azeri girl…love with ….Armenian….Disgrace…. Azerbaijan in shock…..”.

I read on… a love-affair between an Armenian and an Azeri girl studying in London. As far as we know, an Azeri girl, apparently the daughter of one sinister, pardon, minister. But did the media conduct a social survey? How can someone assess the whole country being in shock? What is the barometer of disgrace?

My neighbor who can never forgive himself if he misses any news on TV did not hear about this “shocking” news. The gossip women in the business center who know the latest snippets about everyone’s life are silent about the “disgrace”. My friends, some of which are moderate nationalists and jump at this kind of news, are not aware of this “treacherous” love-affair.

Clear. Mediocre media strategy. Mediaeval media tactics.

Media evil.

———

Facebook: Connecting Armenians & Azerbaijanis online

As some readers probably know, I was recently in Washington D.C. taking part in a panel at an event, Blogs and Bullets: Evaluating the impact of New Media on Conflict at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Also present were Harvard researcher and Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman and Adam Conner from Facebook. Both shared their views, cyber-skeptic and cyber-utopian, on the role the popular social networking site can play in this area while I recounted my own experience in the area of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.

Anyway, it was very encouraging to see that despite being less than positive about that potential, Ethan has since mentioned my own mainly positive experience in an extensive post on his blog, My heart’s in Accra.

My friend Onnik Krikorian has become a Facebook evangelist. Onnik, a Brit of Armenian descent, living in Armenia, is the Global Voices editor for the Caucasus, which means he’s responsible for rounding up blogs from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan as well as parts of Turkey and Russia. This task is seriously complicated by the long-term tensions in the region. Armenia and Azerbaijan are partisans in a “frozen” conflict – the Nagorno-Karabakh war, which lasted from 1988 – 1994, and remains largely unresolved.

It’s taken Onnik years to build up relationships with bloggers in Azerbaijan, relationships he needs to accurately cover the region. Azeri bloggers are often suspicious of his motives for connecting and wonder whether he’ll cover their thinking and writing fairly. But Onnik tells me that Facebook has emerged as a key space where Azeri and Armenians can interact. […]

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Make love, not war…

In recent days, some media outlets in Azerbaijan and Armenia have covered a story originally reported by Yeni Musavat about an Armenian man and an Azerbaijani woman involved in a love affair in London. According to those reports, threats were made and the British-Armenian Community was concerned about their safety. However, email correspondence with the main organizations representing the community showed this to be far from the truth.

Indeed, none knew about the story at all.

But while some minor Armenian and Azerbaijani newspapers attempted to exploit the story for partisan political gain, at least one newspaper took a different approach. Although friends in Azerbaijan say they too had not heard about the story, raising doubts about how much of a scandal the initial story actually caused, the following article marks a very different approach to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. Translation from Azerbaijani into English is below:

There is only humanity…

By Liana Aghajanian

When the Nagorno-Karabakh war was taking place in the early 1990s, I had already settled with my family as a toddler from Iran into the strange and enchanting world of America like many other members of the Armenian Diaspora. Even though my parents had escaped to the U.S. as refugees after nights spent with a newborn in a basement during the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution proved too much to handle, our lives were as deeply engulfed by Iranian culture as they were by Armenian tradition.

With grandparents that hailed from Tabriz, I heard stories of Azeri and Armenian families co-existing peacefully, almost as if they were one in the same. But that was before I entered the Armenian Diaspora private school system that spans from Los Angeles to Boston. Everything turned from grey to black and white. There was no “Armenian and Turkish” or “Armenian and Azeri.” There was just “right” and “wrong.”

Two rich populations of people with enough culture between the both of them were reduced to a piece of land.

Thoughts on the ‘other’

By Global Chaos

It’s difficult to be an Armenian. Not so much because of all the bloody history (in every sense), or the conflicts, or the never-ending migrations… The major issue for me lies in separating the fact from fiction, the real from the imaginary, the myths, the legends, and all the propaganda from the reality I live as an Armenian; especially, as an Armenian abroad.

Growing up in Yerevan during the early years of “transition”, we quite literally lived through the Karabakh war. I guess I’m fortunate not to have been affected in any more direct way, but living the consequences was, I believe, more than enough to instill hostility. Hostility towards an “other” whom I never really met, but always heard so much about.

The fact that I was born into a family of Diasporan repatriates made this perspective even more twisted, since there was another “other” too, who tortured and mutilated my nation about a century ago, and who, somehow, came to blend into the current picture as well.

Then, there was the inherent and, perhaps, inevitable “otherness” that I felt myself, never being quite able to feel normal within a society which, I was told, is supposed to be mine, but which, for some reason, did not fully understand my ways, my food, or even some of my language (the confused faces of some classmates who heard me use Western Armenian words are still vivid in my mind).

Twisted, and yet very overpowering, as I wanted to be a “proper Armenian.” I had come to learn that to achieve that I would have to live up to certain expectations: dedicate my life to “The Cause” and to the struggle for an idea that was romantic and potentially explosive at the same time. I was supposed to hate, and I was supposed to fight.

I’m glad I didn’t. And I have only the “other” to thank for it.

Sometime in my lifetime

By Scary Azeri

The first time I saw an Armenian name in the comments of my blog I was confused. Who was this man, why would he be so friendly to someone who called her blog Scary Azeri? He turned out to be a journalist working in the region. Very shortly after his first comment, I noticed that he linked to my blog posting. Sure, I was grateful for the exposure.

However, it was a slightly controversial topic, about restoring virginity back home.

‘Why would he choose that particular piece?’ was my first reaction. ‘He might want to portray my home country in the worst possible light! What if he is using me to laugh at Azeris?’ Pretty soon I realized that all he was trying to do was bring the two nations closer, in whatever way he could, by getting people to communicate.

Coming together with Armenian and Azerbaijani youth activists in Kobuleti and Tbilisi, Georgia

Tbilisi truly is a melting pot of culture and ethnicities. It is also the closest city where Armenians and Azerbaijanis can meet together on neutral ground. Indeed, last week Georgia was host to a number of meetings, seminars and events which Armenians and Azerbaijanis attended and that continues this week and likely throughout the coming year.

Unfortunately, there were no Azerbaijanis attending the Young Media Makers Preach and Practice Peaceful Journalism in Kobuleti, Georgia, where I presented on the role of new and social media in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict transformation, but there were at another seminar taking place in the same seaside resort. Jumping at the opportunity, I made contact with two young activists from Baku, Azerbaijan, and also their counterparts from Yerevan, Armenia.

The following few nights of social gatherings was amazingly refreshing, and yesterday, I met up with one from each country back in Tbilisi. Introducing Lilit Zakaryan to the mosque mainly attended by ethnic Azeris in the Georgian capital and Farida Allahverdiyeva to the Armenian Church, it also represented the chance to conduct a few video interviews by mobile phone.

Beyond the Boundaries of Impossibility

By Sasun Khachatryan

When you are born into an Armenian family with terrible stories about a war waged nearly two decades ago passed down by relatives, it usually doesn’t occur to you to think about dialogue, peace or reconciliation. This is especially true when that conflict effectively continues today and when you have grown up with images of atrocities haunting you from time to time. It is also the case when still have fresh personal memories from the bombing of your native village by Azerbaijani artillery deployed near Sadarak, Nakhichevan, in the early 1990s.

And how can you think of any possible engagement with a citizen from the other side when you are standing in a hilltop trench observing the frontline between Armenia and Azerbaijan during your military service in the army? Oblivious of yourself and bereft of your senses, you open fire on Azerbaijani soldiers in search of something badly needed having crossed the non-barbed border demarcated in our imagination. You fire and it is an inexplicable force that makes you do so.

Your Azerbaijani counterpart might simply be loading a mule with the remnants of a bombarded and deserted house, probably to use as construction materials, but it seems like the right thing to do. And as soon as you do pull the trigger of your AK47 you start then filling in the blanks with your own story, seemingly persuasive, to sooth yourself and to ease your conscience. But as the dust settles it proves ineffective and you eventually realize that you failed in cheating yourself as common sense prevails.

Later, with a couple of years of experience in reporting and translation as well an emerging knowledge of conflict and peace-building, you find yourself hoist with your own petard, aware that in all probability you are unable to answer to the simplest of questions:

Why?

Ermənistan-Azərbaycan: münaqişənin səsləri

Ermənistan və Azərbaycan arasında mübahisəli Dağlıq Qarabağ ərazisi üzərində olan münaqişə barədə atəşkəs sazişinin imzalanmasından 16 il keçsə də, qəti sülh müqaviləsini bağlamaq cəhdləri uğurlu olmamışdır. Buna baxmayaraq, son il yarım müddəti ərzində sosial şəbəkələr və bloqlar münaqişənin və problemin həll edilməsi yolunda yeni imkanlar və təşəbbüslər açır və irəli sürürlər. Lakin belə yeni media imkanlarından istifadə region üzrə çox da yayılmayıb.

Bundan əlavə, və bu yeni açılan imkanlara baxmayaraq, münaqişə haqqında olan onlayn məqalələrin əksəriyyəti təbliğat xarakteri daşıyaraq və hətta tərəflərin biri-birinə qarşı düşmənçilik hissini daha da gücləndirmək məqsədini güdərək mənfi təsir bağışlayırlar. Bununla belə, Global Voices Qafqaz üzrə redaktorunun şəxsi bloqunda yazılan iki qonaq bloq yazısında Azərbaycandan və Ermənistandan olan iki gənc qız münaqişəyə dair öz düşüncələri və şəxsi təcrübələri ilə bölüşürlər.

Belə səslər yerli KİV-də çox nadir hallarda öz əksini tapır. Hətta bu rəylərin ümumiyyətlə əks olub-olunmaması sual doğurur. Amma bloqlar və digər onlayn vasitələr bu səslərin duyulmasında onlara imkan verə bilərlərmi? Öz bloq yazısında Ermənistandan olan məcburi köçkün 25 yaşlı etnik azərbaycanlı Zamirə Abbasova öz təcrübəsi ilə bölüşür. ABŞ-da münaqişələrin həll olunması üzrə təhsil alan tələbə Global Voices-un Qafqazda baş verən hadisələri işıqlandıran yazısı ilə dərsləri zamanı keçdiyi kurs materialı kimi tanış olduqdan sonra Global Voices ilə əlaqə saxladı.