EUROVISION CONTEST INFLAMES REGIONAL RIVALRIES
by Nanore Barsoumian
March 27, 2012
Earlier this month Armenia announced that it would not participate in
the Eurovision Song Contest scheduled to take in Baku from May 22-26.
This is not the first time Armenia and Azerbaijan-and to a certain
extent, Turkey-have clashed over the song competition. Armenia’s latest
decision, however, elicited responses from Azerbaijani and Turkish
officials. Turkey’s EU Minister Egeman Bagis, told journalists,
“We would like Armenia to stay away not from Eurovision, but from
Karabagh. I think they should revise their decision.”
The Eurovision 2012 Logo Asked whether he knew of the appeal sent
to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) by Armenia to reconsider
the location of the contest, Bagis said he was not aware of such a
move, and added that Azerbaijan’s right to host the event could not
be disputed.
Azerbaijan’s Ell and Nikki came first in Eurovision 2011, earning
Azerbaijan the right.
“Azerbaijan is already a respected factor in the international arena.
It’s a member of the United Nations. This country respects
international law and is directed to democracy. No country has [a]
right to deny it,” added Bagis.
Eurovision in ‘dark place’
In a March 19 article titled “Eurovision: Light Entertainment in a Dark
Place,” The Independent newspaper questioned the choice of Azerbaijan
as a host country in light of Baku’s “abysmal” human rights record
of the country, the “authoritarian measures” adopted by its rulers,
and the “beautification” efforts that have led to the eviction of
thousands of citizens in Baku. The article cited criticisms from the
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and added that this
year’s contest “could be the most controversial Eurovision since it
was held in Franco’s fascist Spain.”
Azerbaijani officials have argued that their country is on the path to
democracy, and that no opposition members or journalists are imprisoned
as a means to suppress freedom of speech. “No one outlaws freedom of
speech [in Azerbaijan],” said Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. Yet,
human rights organizations strongly dispute this assertion. When asked
whether Armenia-Azerbaijan relations would suffer as a consequence
of Armenia’s withdrawal from the contest, Mammadyarov criticized the
“politicization” of the event. “The Eurovision Song Contest should
not be politically exploited and especially not in this conflict,”
he said to the German press.
Armenia explains decision
On March 7, Armenian Public Radio (APR) informed the EBU that Armenia
would not be participating in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest,
explaining that “it would make no sense to send a participant to a
country where they would be received as an enemy.”
APR went on to say that anti-Armenian statements made by Azeri
officials, including a recent comment by President Ilham Aliyev,
had created an atmosphere where one “cannot ensure equal conditions
for all singers participating in Eurovision.”
Aliyev had posted the following on the presidential website: “Our main
enemies are Armenians of the world and the hypocritical and corrupt
politicians that they control… Members of some parliaments, certain
political figures, etc. who live on the money of the Armenian lobby.”
The executive supervisor of the contest, Jon Ola Sand, expressed his
disappointment on behalf of the EBU. “Despite the efforts of the EBU
and the host broadcaster to ensure a smooth participation for the
Armenian delegation in this year’s contest, circumstances beyond our
control led to this unfortunate decision,” he said.
Anti-Armenian sentiments
The shooting of an Armenian soldier on the Azeribaijan-Armenia
contact line in February had already brought a rise in tensions
before the APR’s announcement. Armenian performers had also issued a
statement calling for a boycott. “We refuse to appear in a country
that is well-known for mass killings and massacres of Armenians,
in a country where anti-Armenian sentiments have been elevated to
the level of state policy,” read a statement signed by 22 musicians,
including 3 past Eurovision contestants.
Anti-Armenian sentiments from the top-level is frequently highlighted
in the media. One often-cited incident is the elevation of Ramil
Safarov to the level of national hero. (In 2004, during the NATO
Partnership for Peace program in Budapest, Hungary, Safarov, an
Azerbaijani army officer, axed his Armenian counterpart to death.) In
August 2011, during a speech marking Azerbaijan’s 20th anniversary of
independence, the head of Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration’s
political analysis department Elnur Aslanov told over 400 youth,
“The victory in Eurovision Song Contest, wins of Azerbaijani athletes
and the fact that sons of Azerbaijan like Mubariz Ibrahimov and Ramil
Safarov did not kneel down before the enemy give special spirit to
Azerbaijani youth.”
Conflict spillover
Despite Azerbaijan’s expressed distaste for mixing politics with
a kitschy music competition, a much different tune was heard from
the oil-rich republic as recently as in 2009. That year, Azerbaijani
authorities tracked and interrogated dozens of citizens who had dared
to vote for Armenia’s entry, the Inga and Anush Arshakyan sisters.
Called to police stations, 43 citizens had to justify their vote and
affirm their allegiance to their country. Also that year, the EBU found
that the Azerbaijani broadcaster Ictimai Televiziya had intentionally
distorted the TV signal to blur out the telephone number during
Armenia’s performance. Similarly, during the 2010 Junior Eurovision,
Baku authorities were accused of taking the live broadcast off air
when it became clear that Armenian Vladimir Arzumanyan would win.
In 2010, when then 22-year-old Eva Rivas sang “Apricot Stone”
during the national selection process, a Turkish composer claimed
the song’s first seven lines had a political message-that it was
about the Armenian Genocide, and that “motherland” referred to lands
under Turkish control. The story appeared in numerous Turkish and
Azerbaijani newspapers, such as the Anadolu Ajansi (Anatolian News
Agency), the Azeri Press Agency, CNN Turk, and Radikal. Rivas and
her producer said the lyrics in question-“Many, many years ago /
when I was a little child / mama told me you should know / our world
is cruel and wild / but to make your way / through cold and heat /
love is all that you need…”-were about love and peace, and about
the diaspora yearning for the homeland.
Eurovision bans songs that have a clear political message. In 2009,
Georgia’s representatives were instructed to change the words to “We
Don’t Wanna Put In” which, they believed, took a jab at Russian Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin. Georgia, in turn, withdrew from the contest,
which was held in Moscow.
Last year, Azerbaijani newspapers accused Armenia of stealing the
“Azerbaijani national dance,” the kochari, when it was featured in
Emmy’s performance. In 2009, the media attacked the Inga and Anush
sisters for “stealing” an Azerbaijani song titled “Nakhchivan.”
Armenia has also used the song contest as a platform to highlight its
position, irritating Azerbaijan. For instance, in 2009 an introductory
video that aired before Armenia’s semi-final performance showed the
“We Are Our Mountains” monument located in Karabagh. Infuriated,
Azerbaijani representatives complained to EBU officials, and the scene
was deleted from the video. Armenia did not give in easily, however.
As Sirusho, Armenia’s 2008 contestant, read Armenia’s 2009 votes,
she repeatedly flashed a large image of the monument-taped to the
back of her clipboard-as another screen shot of the controversial
monument was displayed brightly behind her.
This most recent decision is not the first instance of Armenian
competitors refusing to travel to Azerbaijan. About a month ago,
29-year-old Grandmaster Levon Aronian, one of two top chess players
in the world, notified the World Chess Federation (FIDE) that he would
not compete in the Candidates Tournament for the World Championship if
Azerbaijan were to host the games. Aronian said that being in a hostile
atmosphere would have an adverse effect on his mental capabilities,
and would rob him of his “peace of mind.” In a Feb. 2 letter, he wrote,
“No circumstances, if they are not chess-related, should prevent the
grandmaster from demonstrating all of his skills.
Unfortunately, at this moment no Armenian can find [a] favorable
or adequate psychological atmosphere in Azerbaijan, whereas that is
something absolutely necessary. In my opinion, all the participants
should be in equal conditions, which is impossible in case of holding
the tournament in Azerbaijan. Security guaranties and any kind of
additional support cannot be a remedy.”
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2012/03/27/eurovision-contest-inflames-regional-rivalries/