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IT IS NECESSARY TO COUNTER THE TURKISH AND AZERI ANTI-ARMENIAN PROPAGANDA
By Karine Mangassarian
Yerkir.am
March 02, 2007
Armenia is not responding adequately to Turkey's and Azerbaijan's
anti-Armenian hysteria both internally and on the international
arena. It is necessary to take well-coordinated measures and implement
state policies in this direction. It is necessary to be pro-active
and not only take a responsive stance.
Armenian intellectuals and political leaders that participated in a
round table discussion titled "The Armenian Aspect of Turkey's and
Azerbaijan's propaganda" arrived at this conclusion. The discussion
was organized by ARF's Supreme Body on February 28.
In her opening remarks member of ARF's Supreme Body Lilit Galstian
stated that February 28 was selected for holding this discussion
because this is the day of commemoration of Armenians massacred in
Sumgait and Azerbaijan.
"Political reflections: realities"
Member of ARF's Bureau, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Vahan
Hovhannissian noted that the main principles for Armenia's information
and spiritual security are stated in the National Security Concept
even though this document in itself is not ideal.
Who is the target of the Turkish-Azeri propaganda? Answering this
question Hovhannissian noted that there are three targets - the
international organizations, mass media and public opinion, and the
Azeri and Armenian people.
"Since they are saying different things to these different audiences
they give us an excellent tool that we do not use. They are trying
to scare the Armenian nation saying that if a new war starts Armenia
will inevitably lose it, they are trying to convince us that Armenia
cannot do anything against the 7 million Azeris and 70 million Turks,"
Hovhannissian said noting that Azerbaijan has not achieved any success
in this respect because the Armenian nation is the winning nation.
"However, we cannot do nothing against their propaganda. Our people
should understand that Azerbaijan has always been stronger in terms
of its resources, but we have managed to defeat them in the liberation
war in Artsakh," Hovhannissian stated.
Hovhannissian believes the Azeri people are told the same thing -
that they are very strong. And it is the Azeri military leaders who
are making these statements. They are saying they are ready to solve
the conflict with a new war at any time. "A question arises - if you
are ready, why aren't you solving it?" Hovhannissian said.
The two audiences, the Armenian and Azeri people, are receiving
the same information which, however, contradicts the Azeri and
Turkish propaganda at the international level where Azerbaijan is
presented as the miserable state flooded with refugees and people
dying of hunger... "On the one hand we see threats while on the other
hand there is the victim's image. We should be able to show to the
international community both these images and we should adhere to
two main principles.
The Kars-Akhalqalaq railway costs several hundred million dollars and
if Azerbaijan is ready to solve the Karabagh issue without taking
into consideration this factor, why isn't it going ahead? Because
it is not ready to solve the issue with a new war. Armenians must
understand this.
We should not lobby in international organizations that this railway is
not built. We should do our best to make this process controllable,"
Hovhannissian said. It should be controllable so that the railway is
not used for transportation of weapons, and this should be the main
line of Armenian propaganda, Hovhannissian believes.
Armenia's diplomacy should also change, Hovhannissian believes. Armenia
should stop being the peaceful and tolerant side in Karabagh
negotiations.
"We go for consensus while Azerbaijan doesn't, and we can see that
pressure is put on us and not on Azerbaijan. Therefore, it's high
time we state - either Karabagh participates in the negotiations,
or negotiations make no sense.
Today we are merely in the preparatory phase of the negotiations. Final
negotiations cannot be held without Karabagh. We should take a harder
line in the negotiations and demand that Karabagh is also involved
to give a new meaning and substance to the negotiations process,"
Hovhannissian stated. It is up to experts to decide how these issues
should be presented to shape the right public opinion.
It is necessary to undertake concrete measures
Director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences Ashot
Melkonian commented on the issue of Genocide stating that the process
of international recognition of the Genocide is completed and it is
time to raise the political and legal aspects of this issue, in other
words, it is time to demand reparations. "We should start speaking
about reparations, and this is not a task only for the Diaspora but
the entire Armenian nation," Melkonian stated.
Director of the Center for Armenian Architecture Studies Samvel
Karapetian commented on cultural issues pointing out to what happened
in Turkey 30 years ago and what is going on in Azerbaijan today.
"The entire Azerbaijan is like Jugha today, the attitude towards
historical monuments is the same everywhere," Karapetian said. He
suggested appealing to international courts to denounce the
Turkish-Azeri vandalism in the legal domain. "We should have
state-level policies to counter the Turkish-Azeri propaganda,"
Karapetian said.
Head of the Armenian History Chair at Yerevan State University Babken
Harutyunian raised the issue of creating a special information center.
Harutyunian believes even the issue of the Genocide would have been
forgotten had it not been for the Hay Dat Offices.
Harutyunian said the Armenian authorities are merely responding to
the false statements made by the Turkish-Azeri propaganda machine
while they should be pro-active. Harutyunian said it is strange that
the Armenian National Assembly has not yet recognized the Sumgait
massacres as a genocide because what happened in Sumgait can be
defined as a genocide under the international convention.
Director of the Genocide Museum Hayk Demoyan noted that the Azeri
president's family is involved in Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian
propaganda. Ilham Aliyev's wife and daughter are involved in
publication and dissemination of anti-Armenian literature.
President of the Journalists' Union of Armenia Astghik Gevorgian
stressed the importance of publications and dissemination of
information that can counter Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian propaganda.
A new book as a new step in propaganda
A book titled "Against Azerbaijan's Anti-Armenian Policies" was
presented at the roundtable discussion. The book was published by
ARF. It includes articles by non-Armenian historians which makes the
book more interesting, member of ARF's Supreme Body Haykazun Alvrtsian
said. He believes special attention should be paid to publications
in the press since it is largely influenced by the Azeri and Turkish
propaganda. An attempt is made to transfer such propaganda to the
domain of the relations between the government and the opposition
which is completely unacceptable, Alvrtsian concluded.
By Karine Mangassarian
Yerkir.am
March 02, 2007
Armenia is not responding adequately to Turkey's and Azerbaijan's
anti-Armenian hysteria both internally and on the international
arena. It is necessary to take well-coordinated measures and implement
state policies in this direction. It is necessary to be pro-active
and not only take a responsive stance.
Armenian intellectuals and political leaders that participated in a
round table discussion titled "The Armenian Aspect of Turkey's and
Azerbaijan's propaganda" arrived at this conclusion. The discussion
was organized by ARF's Supreme Body on February 28.
In her opening remarks member of ARF's Supreme Body Lilit Galstian
stated that February 28 was selected for holding this discussion
because this is the day of commemoration of Armenians massacred in
Sumgait and Azerbaijan.
"Political reflections: realities"
Member of ARF's Bureau, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Vahan
Hovhannissian noted that the main principles for Armenia's information
and spiritual security are stated in the National Security Concept
even though this document in itself is not ideal.
Who is the target of the Turkish-Azeri propaganda? Answering this
question Hovhannissian noted that there are three targets - the
international organizations, mass media and public opinion, and the
Azeri and Armenian people.
"Since they are saying different things to these different audiences
they give us an excellent tool that we do not use. They are trying
to scare the Armenian nation saying that if a new war starts Armenia
will inevitably lose it, they are trying to convince us that Armenia
cannot do anything against the 7 million Azeris and 70 million Turks,"
Hovhannissian said noting that Azerbaijan has not achieved any success
in this respect because the Armenian nation is the winning nation.
"However, we cannot do nothing against their propaganda. Our people
should understand that Azerbaijan has always been stronger in terms
of its resources, but we have managed to defeat them in the liberation
war in Artsakh," Hovhannissian stated.
Hovhannissian believes the Azeri people are told the same thing -
that they are very strong. And it is the Azeri military leaders who
are making these statements. They are saying they are ready to solve
the conflict with a new war at any time. "A question arises - if you
are ready, why aren't you solving it?" Hovhannissian said.
The two audiences, the Armenian and Azeri people, are receiving
the same information which, however, contradicts the Azeri and
Turkish propaganda at the international level where Azerbaijan is
presented as the miserable state flooded with refugees and people
dying of hunger... "On the one hand we see threats while on the other
hand there is the victim's image. We should be able to show to the
international community both these images and we should adhere to
two main principles.
The Kars-Akhalqalaq railway costs several hundred million dollars and
if Azerbaijan is ready to solve the Karabagh issue without taking
into consideration this factor, why isn't it going ahead? Because
it is not ready to solve the issue with a new war. Armenians must
understand this.
We should not lobby in international organizations that this railway is
not built. We should do our best to make this process controllable,"
Hovhannissian said. It should be controllable so that the railway is
not used for transportation of weapons, and this should be the main
line of Armenian propaganda, Hovhannissian believes.
Armenia's diplomacy should also change, Hovhannissian believes. Armenia
should stop being the peaceful and tolerant side in Karabagh
negotiations.
"We go for consensus while Azerbaijan doesn't, and we can see that
pressure is put on us and not on Azerbaijan. Therefore, it's high
time we state - either Karabagh participates in the negotiations,
or negotiations make no sense.
Today we are merely in the preparatory phase of the negotiations. Final
negotiations cannot be held without Karabagh. We should take a harder
line in the negotiations and demand that Karabagh is also involved
to give a new meaning and substance to the negotiations process,"
Hovhannissian stated. It is up to experts to decide how these issues
should be presented to shape the right public opinion.
It is necessary to undertake concrete measures
Director of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences Ashot
Melkonian commented on the issue of Genocide stating that the process
of international recognition of the Genocide is completed and it is
time to raise the political and legal aspects of this issue, in other
words, it is time to demand reparations. "We should start speaking
about reparations, and this is not a task only for the Diaspora but
the entire Armenian nation," Melkonian stated.
Director of the Center for Armenian Architecture Studies Samvel
Karapetian commented on cultural issues pointing out to what happened
in Turkey 30 years ago and what is going on in Azerbaijan today.
"The entire Azerbaijan is like Jugha today, the attitude towards
historical monuments is the same everywhere," Karapetian said. He
suggested appealing to international courts to denounce the
Turkish-Azeri vandalism in the legal domain. "We should have
state-level policies to counter the Turkish-Azeri propaganda,"
Karapetian said.
Head of the Armenian History Chair at Yerevan State University Babken
Harutyunian raised the issue of creating a special information center.
Harutyunian believes even the issue of the Genocide would have been
forgotten had it not been for the Hay Dat Offices.
Harutyunian said the Armenian authorities are merely responding to
the false statements made by the Turkish-Azeri propaganda machine
while they should be pro-active. Harutyunian said it is strange that
the Armenian National Assembly has not yet recognized the Sumgait
massacres as a genocide because what happened in Sumgait can be
defined as a genocide under the international convention.
Director of the Genocide Museum Hayk Demoyan noted that the Azeri
president's family is involved in Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian
propaganda. Ilham Aliyev's wife and daughter are involved in
publication and dissemination of anti-Armenian literature.
President of the Journalists' Union of Armenia Astghik Gevorgian
stressed the importance of publications and dissemination of
information that can counter Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian propaganda.
A new book as a new step in propaganda
A book titled "Against Azerbaijan's Anti-Armenian Policies" was
presented at the roundtable discussion. The book was published by
ARF. It includes articles by non-Armenian historians which makes the
book more interesting, member of ARF's Supreme Body Haykazun Alvrtsian
said. He believes special attention should be paid to publications
in the press since it is largely influenced by the Azeri and Turkish
propaganda. An attempt is made to transfer such propaganda to the
domain of the relations between the government and the opposition
which is completely unacceptable, Alvrtsian concluded.