GLOBAL VOICES: COMMON GROUND BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND AZERI YOUTH
2009 February 5
The countries of Armenia and Azerbaijan have not had the best relations since the dying days of the Soviet Union and the Nagorno-Karabakh War. The border between the two countries remains closed to this day. However, recently, Global Voices has discovered that among youth in the two nations, the number one concern for the future is the environment.
Question to the Blogosphere: How intractable is the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan? Can youth who find common ground across national lines have an impact on the foreign policies of their respective nations?
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Well, it won’t be easy, but it has potential. Indeed, combined with other initiatives such as proper reporting on the Karabakh conflict which we don’t have from ANY local media outlets in Armenia and Azerbaijan, one would hope that youth will think first as humans rather than nationalists.
Education is key and there’s one experimental school in Armenia which shows that it has a vital role to play. At the Mkitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex in Yerevan the children are very open and moderate when it comes to how they view Azerbaijan.
Unfortunately, however, it’s only one school in Armenia and as far as I’m aware there are no such equivalents in Azerbaijan.
However, there’s no doubt that people to people contact is of enormous importance at a time when the media and civil society in both countries generally tends to adopt knee-jerk nationalist position and perpetuate negative stereotypes of the other.
Anyway, thanks for linking to the GV post.
Onnik Krikorian
Caucasus Regional Editor, Global Voices Online
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org