Opening Remarks
The idea of this book came after the presentation of Azeriсhild project which represented a systematized compilation of works by Azerbaijani authors intended for children audiences along with a series of examples of works created by children themselves, which gave a clear demonstration of the gap between the real situation in the Azerbaijani society about anything relating to Armenia and the declared tolerance for diversity of cultures and religions.
Naturally enough, we tend to label this hatred as armenophobia often without full awareness of the pivotal role it plays in shaping the ethnic identity of Azerbaijanis; such hatred channeled against all that pertains to Armenia stands as the nemesis of their psychological model and fuels the juxtaposition of us vs. them which is fraught with repercussions for Azerbaijanis themselves.
The large archive compiled by the authors of this book a) serves as a thesaurus for an analysis of ongoing processes in the Azerbaijani society and b) allows building a temporal perspective on three levels by covering the past history, current situation and expected ramifications of the armenophobic policy pursued at the state level in Azerbaijan.
The book contains necessary factual evidence and theoretical premises that can be viewed as illustrative of the psychological and social basis underpinning the processes that occur in the Azerbaijani society and have some bearing on us. The chance to scrutinize online the phenomenon of armenophobia in the social milieu of Azerbaijan facilitates the work of specialists and becomes a continuous resource for analysis.
The authors are certainly far from the allegation that the Armenian society – if taken under a rigorous scrutiny – will not display similar traits. However, it must be emphasized that the scale and level of such propaganda defy all reasonable comparison in the first place. The book provides overwhelming evidence attesting to a widespread armenophobia in Azerbaijan and beyond its borders – orchestrated and inspired by the state while represented by its existing political forces with the full approval and support of the intellectual elite and the society as a whole. In this context, there is a blatant contradiction between the verbal statements declaring commitment to certain values and a very specific line of action that nullifies them. Secondly, the book aims exclusively to narrate facts without recourse to any hasty conclusions, partial assessments or biased analysis.
It must be stressed that all examples included in the book are taken from Azerbaijani or neutral sources. The limitations of this publication warrant the inclusion of only the most typical and common manifestations of armenophobia in Azerbaijan. Besides, considering the frequent practice employed by the Azerbaijani media consisting in removal of materials from original sources, the authors have prepared screen shots for all examples used in the book.
The book is intended for a wide audience, and does not exclusively target Armenian readers. We address this book to the international community, the people of Azerbaijan and its religious leaders.
а также его духовным лидерам.
It is incumbent on us to warn that showing retaliatory xenophobia is inadmissible; therefore, this book is not intended for use as a teaching material in schools and is not recommended for highly sensitive readers.
And, of course, we wish to express our special gratitude to all those whose assistance and support contributed to the publication of this book.
Armine Adibekyan, Head of the Xenophobia Prevention Initiative NGO
Anzhela Elibegova, Candidate of Political Sciences, expert on the geopolitics of the South Caucasus
