In the village Tumbul of Babek region of Nakhichevan, a member of the Public Chamber, Ibragim Ibragimli was severely beaten up for “attempting to profess among the villagers the need for a peaceful coexistence with Armenians without any conditions”. Next, I. Ibragimli started defending the writer Akram Naibov (Akram Aylisli) targeted by a nationwide criticism as well as the ideas of his novel “Stone Dreams”, which incensed those present”.216
The names of prominent Azerbaijani activists and journalists who had Armenian friends on Facebook made public by the Azerbaijani news outlet Qаynаr.Info on March 1, 2011 represented an attempt to discredit them.217
Eduard Bagirov, a Russian writer of Azerbaijani origin, offered on his Facebook page condolences to the Armenian people in relation to the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. The Azerbaijani writer Natig Rasulzadeh gave the following commentary on the situation: “The only thing I can say with confidence is that this man cannot be Azerbaijani no matter if he is from Moscow, Baku or Turkmenistan. You can have an Azerbaijani name all you want, but it doesn’t mean yet that you are an Azerbaijani at heart. Judging from his statement, at heart he is anybody, save a Bagirov”.218
In late May 2013, the Azerbaijani press reported that a new bill “On the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan” was being prepared for submission and discussion at the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan:
The Azerbaijani website APA: The citizens of Azerbaijan who cooperate with any organization in Armenia will be subject to criminal liability.
Any citizen of Azerbaijan, who cooperates with any organization and structure in Armenia before the complete liberation of lands from occupation, will be subject to criminal liability”. “This is reflected in Article 7 of the new bill “On the Occupied Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The article says that the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan (with the exception of the representatives of central executive bodies participating in the peace talks on the liberation of the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, diplomatic missions and those who are duly authorized to this effect by the decision of Milli Majlis), who cooperate with governmental and non-governmental institutions, judicial and legislative bodies, political parties, public associations, the media, public and private commercial and non-profit entities as well as their representatives, will be held criminally liable under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The second part of the article sets forth prohibitions covering nationals of foreign countries. “All foreign state and non-state actors, their representatives and nationals of foreign countries working on the territory of Azerbaijan shall be precluded from cooperating with the occupant state on all activities laid down in Article 6(1) hereof or from participating, directly or indirectly, in such activities, as well as from partaking in the decision-making process related to such activities. These sanctions shall apply to all legal and natural persons”.219
However, the existence of the bill is denied by Parliament’s press service.
The press-service of the Milli Majlis stated that reports on the preparation of any such bill in the Parliament are false. None of the parliamentary committees has discussed or intends to discuss any such bill.220
Here, a quote from Rauf Mirkadyrov seems much to the point: “We have long refused to speak reasoning that we are in a state of war with Armenia; yet, we never actually started the war. And we called traitors those who wished to speak while the guns were silent”.221
7. Armenian origin of non-conformists
The authorities of Azerbaijan are hypersensitive to criticism or to any negative manifestation or assessment from both the international community and the domestic audience. The entire state machinery is geared up to create an image of successful, tolerant, decent, transparent and creative system.
According to the reports of international monitoring organizations or relatively independent local researchers and the media, the portrayal offered by the Azerbaijani authorities is quite far from the reality.
While the authorities of Azerbaijan accuse the international organizations of their “biased judgment” and application of “double standards”, the local, mostly opposition-oriented news outlets expose on a regular basis “disgraceful” facts that are at odds with the country’s image advertised by the authorities. The authors of such publications draw fire from state-controlled media, members of the parliament, researchers and non-governmental organizations which wage a war against dissidents using their familiar arsenal of techniques; they search and detect traces of Armenian involvement (lobby) or dig up Armenian roots in those who circulate these “disgraceful” facts or commit deeds blackwashing the country’s bright image.
It is no secret that Azerbaijanis at grass roots level live a hard life “in the richest country of the region”. The ubiquitous corruption, violations of human rights and freedom of speech, tyranny and persecution, the unresolved issue of “reclaiming Karabakh”, incessant and never materializing promises of war lead to some legitimate questions. Who is to blame?
The answer is always ready at hand; it is all about external enemies who are jealous of Azerbaijan’s prosperity and seek to discredit it. This “campaign against Azerbaijan” is invariably ascribed to ethnic Armenians who are the instigators, masterminds and guiding hands behind it. This holds true for inside and outside Azerbaijan.
Overall, the efforts of the authorities to play down their own guilt and to duck any responsibility can be conventionally divided into several categories:
– omnipotent Armenian lobby;
– the domestic population of overt or covert Armenians (the same “30,000 Armenians” who still live in Azerbaijan);
– Armenian lineage, spouses or business partners, etc.
According to the reports of the Azerbaijani press, persons attributable under the above categories can be classified by a number of characteristics.
In Azerbaijan:
– Persons who plague the ruling regime through their criticism, exposures or excessive zeal in their fight for human rights and freedom of speech.
The newspaper Yeni Azerbaijan accused the independent Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova of Armenian origin solely on the ground that she refused to speak about her kins. “Ismayilova never speaks about her kins and made no reaction to the allegations of the Xalq Cebhesi newspaper claiming that her grandmother is Armenian.222 Sources close to the newspaper have extensive data on this subject, and Khadija fears exposure. This is only a part of the shocking details about her, which we do not make public for ethical reasons. It is of note that certain persons who consider themselves Azerbaijanis still call Khadija “the epitome of journalism”, “the champion of moral values” and “the mouthpiece of justice and rights” speaking in her defense,” states the newspaper.223
As early as in 2009, the Baybak.com website reported that Khadija Ismayilova had refuted the allegations of Xalq Cebhesi newspaper about her Armenian grandmother, however, only the information agencies Turan and Yeni Musavat agreed to publish her rebuttal.
Seymur Bayjan, Azerbaijani writer: Starting from 2003, I began realizing that our mindset fouls up our lives. What people call the mentality is a downright torment. I started writing about it, but many did not understand me and still don’t. They call me Armenian, Jewish, Freemason, gay and spy.224
Ali Hasanov, a department head at the Presidential Administration: Don’t you think that those, who receive grants from the Armenian lobby and from the pro-Armenian circles and sling mud at our state from international platforms by depicting Armenians as oppressed and Azerbaijanis as savage brutes and telling foreigners who come to our country all kinds of falsehoods, justly deserve the scorn of the people?225
– Persons implicated in corruption scandals or failing to comply with their professional duties thereby inflicting damage to the area of their responsibility.
Fazail Agamali, Member of Parliament: “The mother of Ilgar Rahimov, the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population, was a representative of a different nation, and even her funeral was organized in Christian rather than Muslim traditions and was accompanied by the playing of clarinet. I support Tagi Ahmedov. Strategical posts must be held by pure-blooded Azerbaijanis”, said the parliamentarian.226
Hafiz Hajiyev, leader of the political party Modern Musavat: Did you know that there are some people in power who have Armenian wives and mothers? It’s them who constitute the main threat to our country. Not so long ago, I saw one of such officials in a restaurant accompanied by a female singer. Their conduct was so outrageous that I was ashamed that Azerbaijan had such public officials.227
The former member of the parliament from the ruling party, Gular Ahmadova, who was caught dealing in parliamentary seats as the main protagonist of a scandal dubbed in the Azerbaijani press as Gulargate, is accused, among other things, of having an Armenian grandmother. Specifically, the Azerbaijani information agency Olaylar reported: “Another fact was revealed on the former Member of the Parliament Gular Ahmadova. Sources well-informed of Ahmadova’s pedigree report that her grandmother was Armenian. Although the ex-parliamentarian had changed all data in her grandmother’s paperwork, the fact was well known to her inner circle. The same source affirms that the incredulous may want to find the address of Ahmadova’s grandmother in the media dating back to 2002, which describes their relationships…”228
Interestingly, before Ahmadova fell from favor, she appeared in the list of “those with pure blood” and no one had the slightest idea of her Armenian roots, and what is more, she was a staunch advocate of the anti-Armenian campaign.
Baby vipers grow: I recall from the remote days of my childhood, as we played in the courtyard with Armenian children, my mother constantly warned me: baby vipers grow. And with age, I realized that indeed, baby vipers grow.229
– Persons who must be compromised to meet the needs of the day or out of personal motives.
“It is most likely that at this advanced age, he betrayed Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani people to serve a nation to which he belongs at genetic level”, said the deputy chairman of the Yeni Azerbaijan political party hinting at the Armenian origin of the writer Akram Aylisli.230
Hurriyyet.net published an exposing article to denounce the fact that Yaqub Eyyubov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan became related with Armenians. “His niece in Kazakhstan married an Armenian. According to well-informed sources within power circles, a group of high-ranking Azerbaijani public officials attended the wedding, including Eyyubov himself. Azerbaijanis drank toasts to the relatives of the newlyweds and gave speeches on the “brotherhood between the peoples of Azerbaijan and Armenia”. <…> Note must be taken of the fact that Eyyubov is not a plain citizen; he holds a key position in the government of the country. In a time when the discussion over Ramil Safarov’s case still goes on, such close ties of a high-ranking official with Armenians give rise to serious moral and ethical problems for the authorities in the public mind. If we factor in the statement of the president at the meeting with Azerbaijani ambassadors to the effect that the Armenian lobby is Azerbaijan’s number one enemy, it can be safely affirmed that the situation looks highly unfavorable for Eyyubov”, says the website.231
– Citizens, predominantly comprised of the young people or rural residents who are fed up with the lawlessness and demand enjoyment of their rights
The young activists who initiated protest actions in Baku in March 2011 had their Armenian origin “unearthed”. Groups tagged March 11 were opened in social networks containing appeals for public rallies and boycott of the authorities.232
Abel Maharramov, Rector of the Baku State University: “Many of those who exhort people to a protest action over Facebook social network are of Armenian origin”. <…> The Rector added that an investigation was in progress to find out if there were any students of the Baku State University among them. We have checked; many of them have Armenian origin, and they intend to sow unrest in the country. This gives rise to a question: is it not enough that you have occupied our lands, so you are now sparking unrest to top it off? Why are they doing this? This happens because today Armenia is in a very tough situation. The teaching staff and the students of the university spurned these calls and have no intention to take part in any action whatsoever. There are isolated cases of students, mostly with poor academic record who have failed their exams. They think of other, negative things. You can find such people everywhere, especially in Armenia. We have conferred with these students, and they have realized that they ought not to walk this path”, said the rector.233
Representative of the ruling party: I want to clearly state that the young people of Azerbaijan do not support these ideas. There are many Armenians among those who come up with such appeals. Undoubtedly, these appeals by Armenians who have grabbed Azerbaijani lands are aimed against our country, because Armenians never support ideas that benefit Azerbaijan. I suggest that these young people make appeals for the liberation of Azerbaijani lands. I address all young people: you cannot stand together with those who circulate appeals supported by Armenians.234
– Criminal and marginalized elements whose presence seems to be viewed as a disgrace to the country
The Azerbaijani singer Mehrim accused a certain Samir Aliyev, who had hijacked her Mitsubishi brand vehicle, of having Armenian origin. “I met this person at the presentation of the music video by Javanshir Babelioglu. He told me that he could help me release a solo album. Then, it turned out that he was just a fraud who had earlier worked as a guard at a bank office. Recently, I’ve found out that this person is of Armenian origin. People like him who do nothing but harm to the society must be caged and held behind the bars”, said the singer.235
Outside Azerbaijan
– Persons held responsible by the Azerbaijani side for action or inaction to the detriment of Azerbaijan
In the run-up to the arrival of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former 6th UN Secretary General from 1992 to 1996, in Baku, the Azerbaijani news agency Vesti.az scanned the former secretary general, who advocated the acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide, for traces of any Armenian lineage. Ahmed Shirinov, head of the Center for Strategic Planning of Azerbaijan, stated in an interview with the agency that back in 1993, when Boutros-Ghali was UN Secretary General, four resolutions on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan were passed by the UN Security Council. “He did nothing for the enforcement of these resolutions. And do you know why? Because he is Armenian”, assured Shirinov with confidence.236
Ali Hasanov, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and IDPs stated that Armenians could capture Shushi and Lachin with the help of Russia’s former Defense Minister Pavel Grachev. “It is no secret that P. Grachev’s mother was Armenian”, stated the Deputy Prime Minister with confidence.237
“Not only was Mr. Solovyov completely unaware of the subject of the discussion, but he lacked basic journalistic ethics and misplaced his personal attitude to a nation stemming from his partial views and marital status (it is known that Solovyov’s wife is Armenian238)”.
Mubariz Ahmadoglu, Head of the Center for Political Innovations and Technologies: During his recent airtime, Vladimir Solovyov could finally contrive a pretext to show his true attitude towards our country. He is a virulent hater of Azerbaijan and even perceives its people as animals. In fact, he serves Armenians by playing dirty tricks on our country. It is worthy of note that Solovyov’s wife is Armenian, and he has previously worked on a TV channel funded by Armenians. Therefore, in all of his programs, he seeks all possible ways to do Azerbaijan a bad turn.239
– Officials of international organizations who have “wronged” Azerbaijan in discharging their professional duties, released scathing reports about Azerbaijan’s political establishment or gave a critical commentary in respect of the country’s authorities.
Bakhtiyar Sadigov, editor-in-chief of the official newspaper Azerbaijan, in his commentary on the critical Freedom House report tagging Azerbaijan as not free stated that the organization’s criticism of Azerbaijan should be disregarded as “this organization is funded by Armenians and operates under their supervision”.240
Ogtay Asadov, the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, in his speech at parliamentary session in May 2012, aired his dissatisfaction with the position of the European Parliament which had adopted a critical resolution on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. According to him, the leadership of Azerbaijan put in every effort to create a climate of festivity, in response to which “the hirelings of the Armenian lobby” fabricated biased and fictitious publications in the western media. “Some forces within the orbit of the Armenian lobby are envious of the welfare and prosperity of our state”, said the parliamentarians during the discussion.241
In 2012, the website Qafqazinfo.az accused the international press publishing critical articles on Azerbaijan during the Eurovision 2012 song contest. “Hundreds of Armenian journalists from across the globe were accredited to cover the Eurovision song contest in Baku on behalf of various news outlets for a biased coverage of the situation in Azerbaijan”, writes the website and quotes the example of Margarita Antidze, Reuters Agency correspondent in Southern Caucasus who was diagnosed by the Azerbaijani media as having Armenian origin.242
Ali Aliyev, Chairman of the Citizens and Development Party (CDP), stated in his turn that a group of spies cloaked as journalists had come to Azerbaijan during the Eurovision song contest.
In order to reinforce its reasoning, justify its position and show the righteousness of its cause, the Azerbaijani propaganda quotes examples of the destructive role of Armenians or people with Armenian background from the experience of other countries (Abkhazia,243 Turkey244,245 Georgia246 and Uzbekistan247). Not infrequently, the information is either false or hypothetical (“must be of Armenian origin”, “most likely is of Armenian descent”, “quite probably of Armenian lineage”).
The examples referenced above clearly showcase the entire extent and scope of the armenophobia instilled in the minds of the people.
8. Armenophobia in official statements
Any authority that holds instruments and potential for shaping ideology, public opinion, vision and perception of the reality is responsible for the consequences of its statements and any acts committed on their basis.
Therefore, with reference to the armenophobia rampant in Azerbaijan at the level of official propaganda and ideology, it is appropriate to point out that it is public officials who mainly set the tone for this: members of the parliament, functionaries of various levels, including the country’s president, and the consequences of their statements translate into a public consciousness and line of conduct.
Azerbaijan’s political establishment is the main supplier of public moods and the country’s trendsetter which covers, inter alia, armenophobia. It is of note that their thinking and actions are absolutely void of self-reflection; the same people who profess aggression and bigotry are genuinely convinced of their own tolerance and find it ludicrous to suggest that their actions amount to racism and xenophobia.
President Aliyev considers laughable the statements of the Armenian head of state on racism and armenophobia in Azerbaijan.248
Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan: “Our political weight and economic might keep growing. <…> However, there are forces which dislike us and wish us evil. They can be divided into several groups: In the first place, our main enemy is the global Armeniandom as well as hypocritical politicians who do their bidding enmeshed in corruption and bribery”.249
Allahshukur Pashazadeh: “Azerbaijan is an exemplar of the tolerance and interfaith dialog”.250
Allahshukur Pashazadeh: ‘’We do everything possible to settle this conflict in a peaceful way. <…> However, we don’t see the results of these meetings because the lie and treachery sit in the blood of Armenians. They sat at our tables, they ate our bread, but when they went out, they spoke against us”.251
Mubariz Ahmadoglu, head of the Center for Political Innovations and Technologies: “The Azerbaijani weapons are capable of destroying any target on the territories controlled by Armenians, including in Armenia itself… when I say any target, I mean the nuclear power plant in Metsamor and the address Baghramyan 26 in Yerevan…. Let them take pity on their own kins and relatives as well as the family members of the military personnel. Searching for bodies of the Armenian soldiers killed by thermobaric weapons may become the primary task of their relatives…It must be considered that weapons are mindless. In this sense, it appears that Armenians want to match their own ignorance to the mindlessness of weapons. We just want to advise Armenians against doing so”.252
The range and variety of inculcated stereotypes covers virtually all aspects of social, political, cultural, mental, historical and moral image of Armenians and Armenia.
Abulfaz Elchibey, ex-president of Azerbaijan: Armenians are not capable of building a state. Over the course of their history, Armenians have never built a state and have never been a state-building nation. Russians have built the state for Armenians; they always commanded: Stand there! Sit here!253
Igrar Aliyev, academician, Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan: Indeed, the Armeniandom is an extraordinary, singular, malicious and misanthropic phenomenon.254
Mubariz Ahmadoglu, political analyst: The aggression and usurpation of other peoples’ territories are intrinsic to the Armenian mentality and are accordingly reflected in the Armenian Constitution adopted in 1991”.255
Abulfaz Garayev, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan: As long as the people and culture of Azerbaijan exist, we will be exposed to the Armenian plagiarism.256
Vagif Aliyev, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism: What do we have to do to make Armenians shut up? Doubtlessly, every act of Armenians contradicts the international rules and standards. Armenians are a breed of a sort that will be judged by the history itself.257
Siyavush Novruzov, deputy executive secretary of the ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan (YAP): Our party does not accept Armenian members. Some applications to this effect were filed to our regional and city offices, but they were all turned down. Today, not a single Armenian can be found in our ranks.258
Bayram Safarov, head of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh: The Karabakh conflict has grown from territorial claims between two nations into a war between Christians and Muslims. Today, our enemies are not only Armenians, but also the Christian world that defends them.259
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the Council of Europe advises Armenians against sleeping in peace as long as the Karabakh conflict remains unresolved. “Before the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the occurrence of incidents similar to that of Budapest – reference is made to the murder of an Armenian military officer in his sleep in Budapest – cannot be ruled out”. This statement was made today by the ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe at the session of one of the committees of this organization.260
Elchin Alibeyli, anchorman, general producer of ATV television channel: For many years Armenians have been stealing Azerbaijani tunes and presenting them to the international community as their own. <…> Armenians steal not only from Azerbaijanis; it is their national malady. The matter is that if a nation lacks history and culture, which is confirmed by the Armenian historians, they must shape themselves at the expense of other nations and therefore, they have decided to steal from their Azerbaijani neighbors <…>. No matter where they lived, Armenians always stole from these peoples their culture and even their language.261
Colonel Eldar Sabiroglu, head of the press-service of the Ministry of Defense: They shamelessly accuse us of provocations. What is their purpose? It is clear that in this way the perfidious enemy is trying to plant a false idea in the minds of the Azerbaijani people. Lying is in their blood.262
Ziyafat Asgarov, First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament: It is hard to purge the ‘Armenian’ pest. The longer it remains without cure, the harsher its consequences are. Its aggravation harms the Armenians themselves. This fictitious genocide of theirs has no underlying historical, legal or moral basis. Armenians simply live off this fantasy, this disorder of theirs. This relates to territorial claims to their neighboring countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and even Russia, although it is Russia that provides for Armenia.263
Recommendations on how to resolve issues related to Armenians and Armenia
Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s ex-president: In the future, we must create works so as they continuously and constantly prove the claims of Azerbaijan to the lands that host today’s Armenia. We must do this. We must pave the way for generations to come.264
Vafa Guluzadeh, political analyst, the former government adviser: Let them go and study Hitler’s experience from the 1930s to see what a splendid army he created. The Hitlerjugend established by him was much more efficient than the pioneer organization of the Soviets. This is the reason why Germany suffered the least casualties in that war. In a short time, the German army could capture the entire Europe and Russia’s European regions. To put it simply, I want that we, just like the Hitler supporters, make preparations for war in all seriousness.265
Mubariz Ahmadoglu, political analyst: Azerbaijani missiles will cover the distance to Metsamor nuclear power plant and nuclear waste storage facilities in an incomparably shorter time than is necessary for any government to recognize the state named Nagorno-Karabakh. This scenario can be prevented only by the signing of a BPA (Big Peace Agreement) which can become a new resource in Karabakh conflict settlement.266
Adil Haribov, Director of the Institute for Radiation Problems of ANAS suggested provoking an artificial earthquake with a magnitude of 9 in Armenia to test the resilience of Metsamor nuclear power plant under extreme conditions.267
Polad Bülbüloğlu, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the Russian Federation: <…> Every Azerbaijani must take part in the liberation of our lands. <…> If the military path is chosen to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, much will depend on Azerbaijanis who live in Russia, and each of us must be ready for this. If anybody hopes to stay behind and sit snug at home, while the army fights to reclaim our lands, that won’t be happening. The entire country, the whole society, all the people must rise and clench themselves into a single fist to back our president and liberate the lands. It cannot be otherwise.268
Anar Mamedkhanov, ex-member of the parliament of Azerbaijan: I keep telling our officers who study military science in Turkey: “You are needed in Karabakh. They (Armenians) must be killed in Karabakh and not in other countries.269
Abulfaz Elchibey, ex-president of Azerbaijan: Armenians, Kurds, Lezgins, Circassians and Romanies are our internal enemies. Can you see how many enemies we’ve got? Prepare well before delivering your blow. May Allah help you!270
Another much admired form of inculcating armenophobia consists in parading one’s own personal input or details of one’s life necessarily depicting episodes related to humiliating, insulting or harassing Armenians.
Arif Gaziyev, founder and head of Mugham theater: We always started fights during the breaks, and as the school was not far from a river, we often cut the classes to gather there singing and playing hide-and-seek. But the most memorable detail was probably how we flung stones at Armenians who always sought to play some dirty tricks.271
Igbal Aghazadeh,272 chairman of the political party Umid: At the time, I did my military service in the Soviet Army, in the Kemerovo Oblast. It was in 1988. Azerbaijanis were in a desperate plight. There were just too many Armenians there. After I returned to Baku, the Sumgait events were the talk of the town. <…> We realized that our people were obliterating Armenians and we looked positively at the fact. <…> Yes, it happened as I was a 5th grade student. We had this teacher of Russian, Alla Petrovna Chebarina. She used to look down on us as a nation by treating us disparagingly and insulting us. We frequently debated with her, but she continued to humiliate us. Once, as she left the classroom, I broke her umbrella, though later I had to pay 27 rubles for it.273
The unabashed propaganda of armenophobia at the highest level could not but draw the attention of the international community. Global Post, an American online newspaper notes that the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev not only doesn’t like Armenia, but is not afraid to say it, nor to tweet it. President Ilham Aliyev’s Twitter followers were treated to a string of more than 30 messages about his neighbor that were distinctly undiplomatic and, in fact, can be considered as downright abusive. “It’s tempting to imagine Aliyev hunched in solitude over a laptop like so many an online troll”.274