Do you realize who they're training you to become?

By Anahit Voskanyan

Azerbaijan’s image and conduct bear a striking resemblance to that of the Islamic State. At first, I considered including footage from the documentary “The State” to demonstrate how Azerbaijani forces treated even Armenian civilian prisoners in response to discussions about burning Azerbaijani and Turkish flags.

I can't tell whether it's fear or hollow righteousness that fuels such social media comments as “What’s the point?”, “Why don’t you go burn their flag on their own land?” or “Are you ready to face the consequences of burning a flag?”

But what consequences, exactly? That Azerbaijani forces might shell border villages? They already do. That their troops might advance further into Armenian territory? They already have. That [Prime Minister] Nikol Pashinyan might bow once again to Aliyev’s demands and punish those who burned the flags? He's already enforced countless senseless, groundless and brutal penalties against his own people. One more or less will make no difference for him or for us.

I wanted to spare your feelings by showing scenes from the film. But now I wonder why should I spare anyone? If I show restraint, will the Azerbaijanis do the same?

Living under the imposed reality of Turkish-Azerbaijani threats has turned some Armenians into passive enablers of that very reality, driving them to a kind of self-destruction that erases not only their identity, but also their humanity. Because in the Turkish-Azerbaijani worldview, Armenians are not seen as people who have the right to exist, speak or act according to their own will.

Is this the kind of life you want to live – the only one you get as a human being?

For over a century, Armenians have resisted the claims that Turks will never change. From the 1915 genocide to the massacres in Baku, Maragha, and Sumgait, we have survived unspeakable horrors. Does the word massacre sound too soft to you? Let’s be clear: mutilation, live burnings, dismemberment, torture – that’s what really happened.

Still think it was all long ago? Then let’s talk about the April war, when Azerbaijani soldiers beheaded Armenian troops and paraded their heads from village to village. Or the 2020 war, where Armenians were burned alive with chemical weapons. The events in Jermuk, the brutal murder of Armenian women – shall I go on?

Those who shrink at the idea of burning a flag will say: “But those women were combatants.” That’s how their enslaved minds justify it.

There are truths so fundamental that any human being should understand them simply by virtue of being human. If those truths must be explained and if we stop at that point of explanation, we’ll remain stuck in a world where nothing deeper is ever acknowledged.

Let me reiterate: the Turks will never change.

At first, I wanted to write that “women shouldn’t watch this footage”. But why shouldn’t they?

Just two videos – that’s all I wanted to share. If Armenians had done anything even remotely similar, “noble” and “politically correct” Facebook would have collapsed into shame. But when it’s Azerbaijanis doing it, you consider it normal? Just hard to watch maybe? If that’s the case, then your Armenian identity and humanity have already gone numb.

Burning the Turkish and Azerbaijani flags is just a symbolic rejection of dishonor and brutality.

Where are Armenia’s demands for justice against Azerbaijani war criminals? They don’t exist. Apparently, that would be too aggressive and a breach of "goodwill."

Do you understand who they’re training you to become?

Someone who has forsaken the 44-day war heroes, the four-day battle martyrs and daily acts of defiance. They are training you to be afraid and accept that you have no right to live.

In the end, if nothing matters, there’s always the option of buying a plane ticket and leaving your homeland.

According to Gagik Hambaryan, Armenia itself requested the suspension of the arrest warrant for Kamil Zeynalli, an Azerbaijani who murdered an elderly Armenian man. He now gives interviews, brimming with confidence, proud of the Azerbaijani authorities who apparently pressured Pashinyan into lifting the arrest warrant.

Did you see that man’s confidence in front of the camera? Do you believe a man, who beheads someone begging for life in the name of Allah, is going to be stopped by a piece of paper with “peace” written on it?

Is the Azerbaijani man, who mocks and torments an ill and defenseless Armenian elder, now outraged that his nation’s flag was burned?

Is this the moral equation you want to be part of?