Post #15: Azerbaijan's 9/11

My surroundings remind me every day that I am not in America. Usually it hits me early in the morning as I pass newly chopped off cow & sheep heads with their tongues hanging out and their eyes still staring at me. I can appreciate that they will provide fresh meat in dinners that night instead of shipped meat that has taken days to arrive. Everywhere I go I hear music. Sometimes it’s Azerbaijan’s ancient & national music, and some times its 50 Cent latest hit, from 5 years ago.

Unfortunately not all aspects of Azeri culture are as colorful as these examples. In fact some things that I encounter on a daily basis are rather dark and can be a bit uncomfortable. One issue that is EXTREMELY noticeable in every day life here is the remembrance of a war between Azerbaijan and the neighbor to the west; Armenia. It is a very very sensitive subject and I have been asked countless times (almost literally by every new person that I meet) if I’ve heard about the Armenians and what they did to Azerbaijan. It is also so sensitive that we as PCVs have been told time and time again not to express our own opinions about the matter, and it’s best just to say “I have heard about it. War is very sad,” or “Yes I’m so sorry to hear about the conflict,” or something along those lines. I hear about it everyday; if not in conversation then on the TV every night with my host family.

I’ve debated with myself for about a week about how to write this post. If any of it is unclear in anyway then I apologies, that’s not my intention. But I’m also not surprised since I’ve recently found it’s kind of hard to express my own thoughts on the matter on this public blog.

Here is the shortest and hopefully most none-biased explanation I can give of the war:

After the Soviet Union Collapsed, Azerbaijan and Armenia went to war over a region known as Nagorno-Karabakh. This is the southwestern region of Azerbaijn, neighboring Armenia. It was officially part of Azerbaijan but there was a majority of Ethnic Armenians living there. The legacy of the war is that Armenia currently occupies Nagorno-Karabakh which makes up 20% of Azerbaijan. The war is still technically going on but because of a cease-fire agreement that both countries agreed to there has been no officially fighting since 1994.

Ever since then, Azerbaijan’s culture/government/citizens/etc., have really made sure that they don’t forget that they were pretty severely scarred & defeated. People are still passionately angry about it. Even many of the youth that I work with, some of whom weren’t even born yet, are just as enraged as the rest of the population. Without getting into details I can honestly say that I have never known the hatred & the lingering feeling of victimization that exists here; which of course I am thankful for but also saddened by…

The 20th of January 1990 (Yirmi Yanvar in Azeri) is when Russian troops, still inside Azerbaijan, wounded and killed hundreds/thousands of civilians. This was also when Armenian tanks and troops moved into Azerbaijan to fight for the Nagorno-Karabakh region in.
Yirmi Yanvar is now a day to morn the people lost in the Armenian invasion and Russian attack; including all Azerbaijanis who lost their lives during the Conflict with Armenia in the years following. Everyone goes to their city’s cemetery where people who died during the conflict are buried. There they pay their respects and lay flowers on graves. The government controlled TV channels, which are all the channels in Azerbaijan, show 20th Yanvar themed broadcasting all day long (Movies, “news”, interviews, etc.).

On the 20th I went to the cemetery with several of my conversation club members. We then walked around the city and they told me what they knew/felt about the situation. They explain it to me as “Azerbaijan’s 9/11.”

I really am glad to have had the opportunity to pay my respect with them, and it really seemed to mean a lot. Truly, war is sad and the after effects are terrible. Azerbaijan does still have an IDP population (internally displaced peoples) that is 16 years removed from the war.

There are however, things surrounding the conflict that are used today that I believe are a disservice to Azerbaijan, and I’m not talking about evil Armenians on the other side of the border...

It is an issue that has to be tip-toed around a lot here. There are topics like Nagorno-Karabakh and other things that I really want to share with people who are interested enough to read this blog. And since Azerbai-Sean has become my official Peace Corps journal, I want to try and capture as many of my experiences and thoughts as possible. Yermi Yanvar and other things have made me realized that I am not able to do that here; on this public blog.

So what I’ve decided to do is create a way for me to chronicle my more personal thoughts and opinions on different things that I encounter here via a Mass Email list. I’d like to invite anyone who enjoys reading this blog to receive these emails. All you have to do is send an email to seaninazerbaijan@gmail.com and include your name/who you are. I will add your email address to the list and you will receive my more candid emails whenever I write them. This way I will be able to have a forum where I can be a bit more open about certain subjects that I would otherwise be uncomfortable posting here on the main blog.

I don’t see myself using it on any regular basis, and I’m not sure what it will include (possibly rants, culturally sensitive subjects, my own personal frustrations with specific things, etc.). Do not feel pressured to join this list. Again, it’s more for me so that I can keep a well rounded account of my time here while still keeping the main blog focused on being a tool for people interested in the Peace Corps and service abroad and to communicate with you all back home.

Thanks & take care!

-----Comments from Last Time------

Breea: Thanks for the continued prayers & well wishes. Flogging Molly reference: I know you'll never "turn your back on me," you'll "never let me down!" Good luck starting this finally semester. You're basically "within a mile of home!"

I feel incredibly dorky...but I love it.

Caroline: Great to hear from you! Congrats on all the developments in your life. And yeah, 3 Cups of Tea was amazing. I'm on the last 20 pages of Mountains Beyond Mountains, and for anyone who enjoyed 3CT, it's a must!