Overcoming negative stereotypes in the South Caucasus

Tbilisi, capital of Georgia and arguably the cultural heart of the South Caucasus. It’s always a delight to visit and not least because it is perhaps the only place in the region where Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians can meet without centuries of mutual hostility and post-Soviet conflict driving a wedge between people with more in common than not. For Armenians and Azeris this is especially true given the still frozen conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

Situated within neighboring Azerbaijan, but inhabited mainly by ethnic Armenians, Karabakh was one of the first of many simmering conflicts which accompanied and perhaps even ushered in the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Over 25,000 were killed, a million people on both sides were forced to flee their homes, and Azerbaijan lost 16 percent of it territory by the time a 1994 ceasefire agreement was signed. Regional analysts and the international community, however, fear that the war might one day resume.

Various attempts to broker a final peace agreement have since faltered with nationalists and political forces on both sides of the ceasefire line maintaining that the two ethnic groups can never live side by side together again. Subjective perceptions and interpretations of history have only added to the stalemate leading to the sad reality that neither side is willing to compromise. Ironically, however, such entrenched positions often appear absurd given the peaceful coexistence of Armenians and Azeris in Georgia.

The full post is available on Transitions Online’s Steady State.