ARTIFICIAL ATTEMPTS OF DIALOGUE
Vardan Grigoryan

Hayots Ashkharh, Armenia
Dec 19 2007

"The Days of Azerbaijan", launched in "Mkhitar Sebastatsy" educational
complex on December 17, attracted the attention of the Foreign
Ministers of the two countries, Mass Media and part of society.

The group of Azerbaijani human rights defenders, writers and political
scientists, who have arrived in Yerevan in the framework of the
"Days of Azerbaijan", organized by Gevorg Vanyan’s "Caucasian Center
of Peaceful Initiatives", by the sponsorship of the British Embassy
has already participated in various events. They have summed up the
results of the compositions and paintings regarding the future of
Armenian- Azerbaijani relations organized in "Mkhitar Sebastatsy"
educational complex, watched films, etc.

>From the first glance this event seems to be a very innocent step,
in harmony with the spirit of the time and the Foreign Ministers
of the two countries have already expressed their positive attitude
regarding this initiative.

In particular the Spokesman of Armenian Foreign Ministry Vladimir
Karapetyan underscored that: "due to public diplomacy and communication
between the peoples it is possible to contribute to the peaceful
regulation of Karabakh conflict." In his opinion "The "Days of
Azerbaijan" in Armenia is a bright example of Armenia’s devotion to
the idea of peace and dialogue."

In his turn Spokesman of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Khazar Ibrahim
made quite different comments: "Taking into consideration the fact that
Armenian political figures spread information that has nothing to do
with the reality, the attempt of Azerbaijani civilians to reveal the
truth to Armenian society, I think will contribute to having a true
idea about the reality."

Which means Armenian side views the organization of the "Days of
Azerbaijan" in Armenia as a chance to recover the atmosphere of mutual
trust between the two countries, whereas Azerbaijan considers it as
an opportunity to "split" the "informational blockade" of Armenian
society and to reveal the standpoints of Azerbaijani side to them. It
turns out that dialogues and mutual communications are components of
advocacy war.

By the way even these days when Armenia is hosting Azerbaijani human
rights defenders, writers, and political scientists, anti-Armenian
events continue in this country. In particular, the participants of
a similar event gathered in town Ghuba to lay wreaths on Azerbaijani
graves, allegedly annihilated by Armenian nationalists in 1918.

A question arises here. From where should we start to form the
atmosphere of mutual trust, for which British Embassy has sponsored
this even? If advocacy hysteria and intolerance on the state level,
continues in one country and meanwhile Azerbaijani and Turkish language
and music becomes more frequent in the streets of the capital of
another country, in such circumstances the two parts must adopt certain
norms of mutual behavior. That is: First: Azerbaijan must quit sowing
racial hatred, on state level, towards Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh,
and Armenians in general, the new manifestations of which are being
recorded, at the moment, in parallel with the "Days of Azerbaijan"
in Armenia.

Second: The mediators, British Embassy in this particular case,
must organize dialogues not through odious figures such as Gevorg
Vanyan and Ashot Bleyan, but through the involvement of Armenian and
Azerbaijani influential intellectuals such as P. Byulbyulogly and
A. Smbatyan who visited Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku recently.

Third: Similar events must provide an opportunity for the both sides
to express their standpoints, give chance to Armenian intellectuals
to appear in front of Azerbaijani audience, instead of creating an
atmosphere of unilateral advocacy, as the Spokesman of Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry Khazar Ibrahim underscored.

Fourth: Representatives from Nagorno Karabakh must have an active
participation in such events, those who were the first to "taste"
the bitter fruits of enmity and estrangement of the two peoples.

Otherwise, on the one hand "bleyanism" is taught to our pupils and on
the other hand Azerbaijani authorities form a generation, by means
of anti-Armenian propaganda, which is planning to speak with us not
about friendship, by means of compositions and posters, but in the
language of hostility and hatred.