Hurriyet Daily News: Armenians in Baku want to remain in ‘homeland’

Hurriyet Daily News

Monday, July 25, 2011

İPEK YEZDANI

Many of the 20,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan say they are determined to stay in the country even if war breaks out between Baku and Yerevan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Four Armenian women speaking on condition of anonymity told the Hürriyet Daily News that they have been living in Baku since birth and that they had never thought of leaving Baku. All of them married Azerbaijani men and have children, some of whom served in the Azerbaijani army.

“There was no difference between Azeris and Armenians in our childhood,” said C.R., 54, who studied at the Neft (Oil) University in Baku. “We all grew up in the same place with Azeris, and we were all one, we did not know who was Azeri and who was Armenian, the separation began after the war,” she said.

Ş.G., 48, said they had felt anxious during the 1990s war in Nagorno-Karabakh, but had never thought of leaving Azerbaijan’s capital. “We were born here, our parents are from Baku, this is our land, how can we ever leave here? Besides this, I have not personally witnessed any harsh reaction from anyone because of my Armenian identity,” said Ş.G. when asked if she ever considered leaving Azerbaijan during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Especially after Heydar Aliyev came to power, our problems were reduced. Armenians living in Baku were protected by the state. Policemen were giving us their own telephone numbers and telling us to call them directly if something happened,” said Ş.G.

Aliyev’s son, İlham Aliyev, succeeded his father as president of the country.

“My son served in the Azerbaijani army, my neighbor’s son who was also an Armenian, died in the Karabakh war while fighting for Azerbaijan, another neighbor’s son was lost in Karabakh. How can we say that we are different than the others here? We are all one,” said A.R., 56.

Although the women had not experienced major problems, many Armenians left Azerbaijan out of fear of being threatened during the war, said R.N., a 60-year-old housewife. “However, almost all of the Armenians who left Azerbaijan want to come back to their lands. I have friends and relatives in Russia, Belgium and the United States, and they all say they still want to come back to Baku, because this is their homeland.”

Some Armenians also echoed their government’s call on the Karabakh issue. “Karabakh has been Azerbaijani land for decades, they have the right to ask for it back,” said C.K., 54, who is also an Armenian housewife.

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