Evgeny Kissin: Statements about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are
identical to typical cliches of anti-Israel propaganda
12:39 16/05/2013 » DAILY PRESS
Golos Armenii newspaper has published the letter of famous pianist
Evgeny Kissin, which he wrote in response to an article of Siegfried
Guterman titled “Azerbaijan – a Strategic Partner for Germany’s Energy
Transition” published in the Jewish Voice from Germany (JVG).
In his article “Azerbaijan – a Strategic Partner for Germany’s Energy
Transition” (JVG, January 2013, p. 14) Mr. Siegfried Guterman informs
his readers that “since its independence from the Soviet Union in
1991, Azerbaijan has been implementing political structures modeled on
Western democracies. It is a presidential democracy with a plurality
of parties who are also represented in the national parliament
To be sure, Azerbaijan is no “Westminster Democracy”, and this is not
just in relation to freedom of the press. Nevertheless, the UK and
Germany should not be used as yardsticks when examining the political
infrastructure here today, instead, one should compare it to other
former Soviet republics like Russia, Georgia etc. .”.
Let us indeed compare. The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index
2012 classifies Azerbaijan as an authoritarian regime and ranks its
level of democracy #139 among 167 countries of the world. According to
the same Index, Russia which is also an authoritarian regime ranks
#122; Georgia is a hybrid regime and ranks #93. Among the 15 former
Soviet republics, Azerbaijan’s level of democracy is 6th from bottom
(with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
below it). As for freedom of the press, the Reporters Without Borders
2013 World Press Freedom Index ranks Azerbaijan #156 among 179
countries of the world: 5th from bottom among the former Soviet
republics (with only Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
below it). In the same Index, Russia is ranked #148, Georgia – #100.
Since 1993, Azerbaijan was ruled by the ex-KGB general and Politburo
member Heydar Aliyev. Having lived in the former Soviet Union, I can
testify that at the time of Gorbachev’s “perestroika” Aliyev was
regarded as one of the most odious, reactionary figures in the Soviet
political establishment. Aliyev ruled Azerbaijan with an iron fist
until his death in 2003 and was then replaced by his son Ilham who is
still the country’s leader. In short, Azerbaijan is a Syria-like
Eastern tyranny, and its “first opera to be built in a Muslim country”
and “the commendable status of women”, praised by Mr. Guterman, do not
change this fact.
True, Azerbaijan’s authorities are not anti-Semitic, and Jews live
well there. However, this does not make that country “tolerant”, as
claimed by Mr. Guterman. Those who lived in the former Soviet Union in
late 1980s – early 1990s remember with horror the bloody pogrom of
Armenians in Baku in January 1990 when dozens of people were being
killed during a whole week, the entire Armenian population of the city
(dozens of thousands of people) fled and were deported, and the
authorities did not interfere.
As for the “tolerance” of today’s Azerbaijan, it can be perfectly
illustrated by 2 examples. In 2004, during a NATO-sponsored course of
studies in Budapest, the Azerbaijani lieutenant Ramil Safarov killed
the Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan with an axe in his sleep and
attempted to kill another Armenian student Hayk Makuchyan. Having
served in a Hungarian prison for several years, in 2012 Mr. Safarov
was extradited to Azerbaijan where he was greeted as a hero, pardoned
by President Aliyev, promoted to the rank of major and provided with a
flat.
The other example is more recent. At the end of last year, the Azeri
prose-writer Akram Aylisli published his novel “The Stone Dreams”
whose characters openly condemn the anti-Armenian reprisals in
Azerbaijan. In response, President Aliyev deprived Mr. Aylisli of his
People’s Writer degree and Presidential pension; Parliament members
called to check Mr. Aylisli’s genetic code (since Mr. Aylisli was a
native of a village in which both Azeris and Armenians used to live),
deprive him of his Azeri citizenship and ban his works in Azerbaijan;
Mr. Aylisli’s family members were fired from their jobs; groups of
young people, including members of the country’s ruling party “Yeni
Azerbaijan”, burned Mr. Aylisli’s photographs and shouted: “Akram, get
out of the country!” in front of his house; residents of the writer’s
native village demonstrated on its central square shouting: “Death to
Akram!”, “Traitor!”, “Akram is Armenian!” – and then burned Mr.
Aylisli’s books. So much for a “tolerant presidential democracy” …
It’s worth comparing Azerbaijan’s political system also to that of
Armenia whose “victim”, on Mr. Guterman’ opinion, Azerbaijan is. The
above-mentioned Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index 2012
classifies Armenia as a hybrid regime and ranks its democracy level
#114: 25 above Azerbaijan. The Reporters Without Borders 2013 Press
Freedom Index ranks Armenia #74: 82 above Azerbaijan.
It is at best strange to read in a Jewish newspaper statements about
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which are virtually identical to typical
cliches of the anti-Israel propaganda: “illegal occupation despite the
UN Secutiry Council resolutions”, “displaced refugees are still
waiting for a solution” – without mentioning the history of the
conflict and the fact that there were refugees on both sides
(omissions also very typical of the anti-Israel propaganda). Let me
therefore give a brief outline of the history of Nagorno-Karabakh and
the conflict around it.
Nagorno-Karabakh has always, for thousands of years, been an Armenian
land, and Armenians have always been an overwhelming majority of its
population. In 1921, when the Bolsheviks conquered the Caucasus, they
made Nagorno-Karabakh part of Azerbaijan, because they wanted to
please Turkey with which they had a good relationship. During all the
decades of the Soviet Union’s existence, the Armenians of
Nagorno-Karabakh wanted their country to be part of Armenia; during
all those years, the Azeri authorities were depriving the
Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians of their national cultural rights (the
Armenian children in Nagorno-Karabakh could not learn their language
at schools, there was no Armenian television there) and pursuing an
active policy of the Azerbajanization in the region. A few years after
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and began his policy of
liberalization, in February 1988, the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh
announced their decision to fulfill the desire of the overwhelming
majority of the region’s population and to unify their region with
Armenia. In response to that, a pogrom against Armenians was committed
in the Azeri city of Sumgait: for 3 days Armenian civilians were being
killed without any interference by the police.
In December 1988, a horrible earthquake happened in Armenia, it ruined
entire towns and killed dozens of thousands of people. The whole world
rushed to help Armenia: people from different countries either came or
sent humanitarian aid. Freight trains came from Azerbaijan, too: they
contained crutches and coffin nails.
It was at that time, in late 1980s and not “after the collapse of the
Soviet Union”, as Mr. Guterman claims, that the war between Azerbaijan
and Armenia started. As someone who lived in the former Soviet Union
at that time, I can witness that progressive-minded people in the
country, including Andrey Sakharov, supported Armenians in that
conflict: it was clear that justice was on the Armenian side. But of
course, none of us could imagine then that a few decades later a
Jewish newspaper in Germany would talk about “the importance of
Azerbaijan for Germany’s future” …
Alas, Western democracies too often tend to sell their conscience for
gas and oil – and as we all know, Israel for many years has been the
first victim of this disgraceful policy. However, it is shameful that
support for such policy comes from the pages of a Jewish newspaper,
that its author and staff member calls for partnership with and energy
dependency on one of the worst tyrannies..
http://www.panorama.am/en/press/2013/05/16/golos1/