There are serious, thoughtful people in all nations, and our neighbors, in this respect, of course, are not an exception. An Azerbaijani writer and publicist Vahid Gazi, living in the West, trying to analyze why his country failed in the 1992-94 war, notes, in particular, that the winners were not only the soldiers but Arno Babajanyan, Saroyan, Parajanov, Saryan, and Aznavour. This is a very deep and right notion, and as a journalist covering the war, I can assert it peculiarly: the guys returning from the position were singing not only patriotic songs, but were reciting Charents and Pushkin.
Our people won because its back was facing the spiritual and intellectual heritage. It cannot be fabricated or created from scratch in a few years, it is a legacy of generations and centuries. Pulverizing, embezzling, destroying the heritage in pathological greed of the authorities and endless complaints and grunts of others, yes, it is possible. We see the signs of it, God give us strength to discontinue this path.
If Azerbaijani elite Vahid Gazi’s view were dominant, we would have a serious problem: their authorities would not be boasting that they have oil for sale and make money, but would try to establish (just establish, and not steal) their own national identity, which can’t be replaced by Russian weapons donated to us and sold to Azeris.
But, fortunately, our neighbors are still far from it. A bill is under discussion at Azerbaijani Milli Majlis, according to which the citizens of Azerbaijan who will be cooperating with any Armenian organization, institution or private person, would be subjected to serious criminal charges. Pursuant to the plan, this law is valid until “complete liberation of occupied lands.” All those who cooperate with Armenians in any place of the planet and in any industry, business, mass media, peace initiatives and so on, would be punished.
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The authors of the bill, apparently, think that in doing this they raise the fighting spirit of their own people, the greater is the hatred towards the Armenians, the higher are the chances to win the war. They have not yet come to the conscious that hatred and malice gives only hang-ups to a person, that success can be achieved not by hating the other’s, but loving yours. If, I repeat, you have the values that you can love.
It would be good if some of our fellow citizens do not forget it, too.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
