WHY ARE WE FIGHTING?
Anahit Grigoryan
student of RAU
Master-class of
Alekper Aliyev
student of RAU
Master-class of
Alekper Aliyev
- You are like my sister, but when the war starts I will take a weapon in my hands and go against your country.
- So will I.
This short episode was from a dialog between an Azerbaijan boy and an Armenian girl who partook in one of the “Internews” projects. The project was aimed at acquainting the nations living in three republics of the South Caucasia with one another and attempting to establish mutual understanding between the so-called “bloody enemies”. Why did a similar dialog arise between us? Why was an Azerbaijan boy calling an Armenian girl a sister ready to take up arms and murder all her relatives and close people and in the end die himself, if war starts. The point is that the image of an enemy put down deep roots in our consciousness. We are convinced that to die for a country is a great honour. It is because we are thinking and living based on the system of our fathers and at the same time we forget that the true patriotism in the modern world is the improvement of life, strengthening and reinforcement of the country one lives and its transformation into an independent and rich territory.
Let us imagine that the war did start and the most outstanding figures, the best “brains” annihilated one another and both of the countries were once again cast away to at least ten years back and occupied the toppest ranks in the list of lagging countries. Who will benefit by that? The answer is simple – neither Azerbaijan, nor Armenia. And which side will benefit by this conflict? It is better not to touch upon this matter, it is not our subject.
“If the war starts…”. “If” is a good word, but in reality, when discussing about the possible war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, then we have already begun using such expressions as “when” and not “if”. This is because the war going beyond the probability became inevitable. In addition to our stereotypes, we are also attacked by Mass Media, as if adding fuel to the fire and being ignorant of the direction this propaganda and the image of an enemy may lead us.
I do not think at all that we have to forget our history and force a hypocritical smile at one another. Our nation has a very good memory and nothing should be forgotten. But our neighbours cannot be changed either. Thus, though it may sound a bit official, but it is vital to create business relations. It should not be forgotten that the true patriot is not the one who wants to die, but the one who wants to live ever so much. The fact is that a living person may always be more hugely beneficial to his/her country than the dead one. And nothing will change even if he will be declared a hero or a huge monument will be erected on his grave at the expense of the government. After all, he is already dead; he will not write books and build houses and will not be able to be beneficial to his country with his invention. Solemn words can be inscribed on the tombstone, but only two of these words will be true, which is, the date of birth and death. And the interval between them could have been used for the benefit of his country.
The “Internews” project with the participation of Armenians, Azerbaijanians and Georgians was called “Adjap-sandal”, since this dish is considered to be the cuisines of all the three nations. This project could have also been called “folk music”, “our mentality” and other similar conceptions. After all, we are Caucasians and are similar to one another in many things. They say that equally charged bodies are pushed aside and antagonized. May this be the reason of our fight and quarrel?
Anahit Grigoryan
27-05-07
Published in Azerbaijanian
Almaqezeti
24-12-06
- So will I.
This short episode was from a dialog between an Azerbaijan boy and an Armenian girl who partook in one of the “Internews” projects. The project was aimed at acquainting the nations living in three republics of the South Caucasia with one another and attempting to establish mutual understanding between the so-called “bloody enemies”. Why did a similar dialog arise between us? Why was an Azerbaijan boy calling an Armenian girl a sister ready to take up arms and murder all her relatives and close people and in the end die himself, if war starts. The point is that the image of an enemy put down deep roots in our consciousness. We are convinced that to die for a country is a great honour. It is because we are thinking and living based on the system of our fathers and at the same time we forget that the true patriotism in the modern world is the improvement of life, strengthening and reinforcement of the country one lives and its transformation into an independent and rich territory.
Let us imagine that the war did start and the most outstanding figures, the best “brains” annihilated one another and both of the countries were once again cast away to at least ten years back and occupied the toppest ranks in the list of lagging countries. Who will benefit by that? The answer is simple – neither Azerbaijan, nor Armenia. And which side will benefit by this conflict? It is better not to touch upon this matter, it is not our subject.
“If the war starts…”. “If” is a good word, but in reality, when discussing about the possible war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, then we have already begun using such expressions as “when” and not “if”. This is because the war going beyond the probability became inevitable. In addition to our stereotypes, we are also attacked by Mass Media, as if adding fuel to the fire and being ignorant of the direction this propaganda and the image of an enemy may lead us.
I do not think at all that we have to forget our history and force a hypocritical smile at one another. Our nation has a very good memory and nothing should be forgotten. But our neighbours cannot be changed either. Thus, though it may sound a bit official, but it is vital to create business relations. It should not be forgotten that the true patriot is not the one who wants to die, but the one who wants to live ever so much. The fact is that a living person may always be more hugely beneficial to his/her country than the dead one. And nothing will change even if he will be declared a hero or a huge monument will be erected on his grave at the expense of the government. After all, he is already dead; he will not write books and build houses and will not be able to be beneficial to his country with his invention. Solemn words can be inscribed on the tombstone, but only two of these words will be true, which is, the date of birth and death. And the interval between them could have been used for the benefit of his country.
The “Internews” project with the participation of Armenians, Azerbaijanians and Georgians was called “Adjap-sandal”, since this dish is considered to be the cuisines of all the three nations. This project could have also been called “folk music”, “our mentality” and other similar conceptions. After all, we are Caucasians and are similar to one another in many things. They say that equally charged bodies are pushed aside and antagonized. May this be the reason of our fight and quarrel?
Anahit Grigoryan
27-05-07
Published in Azerbaijanian
Almaqezeti
24-12-06