"DIALOGUE FOR ACTION" – ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI YOUTH HOPE TO BRING CHANGE
Anahit Shirinyan

2009 /08/24 | 17:20

Feature Stories politics

A group of Armenian and Azerbaijani youth has met in neighboring
Georgia at the beginning of August to participate in the
Armenian-Azerbaijani workshop "Dialogue for Action":

The workshop was organized by the Imagine Centre for Conflict
Transformation, founded by conflict resolution practitioners
from Armenia, Azerbaijan and the US. The Centre aims to fill
the communication gap between Armenian and Azerbaijani societies,
positively transforming attitudes of both societies toward each other
and creating networks of professionals across conflict lines actively
committed to improving the peace building process.

5 workshops with Armenian and Azerbaijani participants have been
organized by the centre since its foundation in 2007. Phil Gamaghelyan,
the Armenian co-director of the Imagine Centre, believes they have
developed a comprehensive methodology. "First we focus on developing
relationships, then on communication and conflict resolution skill
building and as the next step we have a deep dialogue where the
participants confront the conflict and their differences, including
such hard topics as history".

Phil says they work on both intellectual and emotional levels. "After
sorting out the differences and achieving a degree of mutual
understanding, we focus on the development of joint projects and
development of an action plan for follow up".

One of the most important things about the program is that it gives
an opportunity for the participants to sincerely speak about their
concerns, needs and hopes; representing their own position and
understanding the position of the other side. During the workshop,
the participants usually have enough time to simply communicate with
each other.

The participants of the workshop have commented on their impressions in
an interview with "Hetq". Karo, 17, is the youngest participant of this
year’s workshop. This is his first contact with Azerbaijanis. Although
his perceptions about the conflict and Azerbaijani people haven’t
changed, he has understood that the Azerbaijani society has the
same concerns and fears that we have. "I have learnt to put aside
the conflict for a while and simply communicate on a human level. I
could never imagine such change would be possible. Now I am open to
hear points of views that are different from that of mine and I am
ready to understand the concerns of the other side", he says.

Another participant of the workshop, Arpi, confesses she was very
concerned the Armenian and Azerbaijani participants would fail to
understand each other and that no dialogue would take place. However,
she says, "Here I have found people who can listen to you and
understand. I have learnt to be more tolerant without changing my
position. I have also learnt to look at the issue from the other side,
comparing positions and making more correct conclusions"

Delia, an Azerbaijani participant, believes Armenian and Azerbaijani
youth don’t know each other at all and that people don’t want to
communicate. During the workshop, though, "people were feeling and
respecting each other’s pain". "Those who wish to change things will
manage. You can do it by changing yourself and people around you",
she says.

"New generations in Azerbaijan have never seen Armenians and only
view them through the Karabakh conflict", claims Nigar, who is a
famous blogger in Azerbaijan and has many Armenian friends. "Our
governments are busy blaming each other and bringing up zombified
generations. But Armenian and Azerbaijani youth are the future of
the region and they have to start talking".

Nigar says it will be extremely difficult for the youth to bring
changes to their societies, but she believes everything is possible
"once you start educating people, showing the perspectives of friendly
neighborhood, sharing your experience and telling about your friends."

"The young generation is full of innovative ideas, we have skills and
education that our parents didn’t have", notes Imagine co-director
Phil Gamaghelyan. "We can teach the older generation not to see the
world in zero sum terms. We can cooperate and achieve everything we
need while giving the other side everything they need. We can think
of a conflict as an opportunity to jointly progress; not a curse
imposed on us by dark forces. We can help our governments with ideas,
guidance and networks, or we can take ownership and do it ourselves
if the governments are incapable or unwilling to listen. The region
belongs to us and our future is in our hands", he says.

The participants of the Dialogue program are not going to stop
here. They plan to implement joint projects aimed at bringing change
to their societies. Their experience can really be useful. During
the workshop there have been difficulties, moments of tension and
misunderstanding, but they did manage to overcome them. Above all,
they have gained good friends, something that – as many confess –
they could never have imagined.

When speaking about future joint projects, the participants cite lines
from John Lennon’s song "Imagine", which has become the informal anthem
of the program – "You may say I’m a dreamer, But I’m not the only one".