Arif Yunusov: On February 1, 1990, the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan officially registered 207.5 thousands of refugees in the republic flowing into Azerbaijan from Armenia and about 48 thousand Meskhetian Turks. Later, a portion of these refugees from Armenia and Uzbekistan moved to Russia, but, at any rate, the number of refugees in Azerbaijan from Armenia and Uzbekistan always fluctuated between 210 and 230 thousand persons. <…> In early 1994, the government of Azerbaijan declared that the country had over 1 million refugees and displaced persons. Later, the situation in Azerbaijan became a bit more stable, and on April 1, 1998, the country’s authorities reported the registration of about 233 thousand refugees from Armenia and Uzbekistan and 611 thousand displaced persons. Thus, according to official sources, a total of 844 thousand refugees and displaced persons were registered in Azerbaijan comprising about 11 % of its population. However, according to UNHCR and IOM, the number of refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan comprises 782 thousand. These figures are close to the truth and are equally backed up by independent experts who believe that the number of refugees and displaced persons in Azerbaijan comprises 750 thousand or 9 % of its population.312
It must be noted that Arif Yunusov, too, is far from the real figure overstating it only by 50 %, while the official Baku doubled it. According to Leonard Petrosyan, the interim president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, dating back to 1997, the number of refugees and displaced persons comprised 583 thousand.313
In 1988-89, 168 thousand Azerbaijanis left Armenia during 8-10 months following the Armenians pogroms of Sumgait and the forced banishment of over 350 thousand Armenians from the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan. The former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was abandoned during the hostilities of 1991-92 by virtually its entire Azerbaijani population of 40.6 thousand persons or 21.5 percent of its total population (according to the 1989 census).
It must be noted that Azerbaijan deliberately overstates the number of Azerbaijani population of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast mentioning “60 thousand Azerbaijanis” or “one third of the population”. The Azerbaijani population of Shahumian region remained in their houses in all 4 Azerbaijani villages perched along the borders of the region in its northern and eastern parts. <…> According to the above Azerbaijani sources, the population of 7 regions fully or partially occupied by the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh comprised 483.9 thousand persons in 1989.
Considering that the regions of Aghdam and Fizuli have been but partially occupied, the total number of displaced persons who had to leave the said regions made approximately 420 thousand persons, of which 45 thousand returned to their homes in 1997, according to Azerbaijani sources.
Thus, only 375 thousand persons of the total population of these 7 regions are displaced persons and refugees. So, the total number of Azerbaijani refugees and displaced persons in the Republic of Azerbaijan adds up from the above figures with refugees from Armenia (168 thousand persons, as noted above, swapped their houses and received compensation and, therefore, can be considered refugees only if we stretch the definition) and from Nagorno-Karabakh (40 thousand persons) to be factored in. Hence, the number of refugees and displaced persons moving to Azerbaijan as a result of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict comprises 583 thousands persons which amounts to 7.9 percent of the population of the Republic of Azerbaijan as declared by Azerbaijani official sources.
Myth on the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory
Ramiz Mehdiyev: Armenia, which disregards these factors, committed an unabashed act of military aggression pulling Azerbaijan into a military conflict and occupying 20 percent of its territories.314
In fact, during the hostilities the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army established full control over 5 regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan: Lachin – 1835 sq. km, Kalbajar – 1936 sq. km, Qubadli – 802 sq. km, Zangilan – 707 sq. km and Jebrayil – 1050 sq. km, and partially the regions of Agdam and Fizuli – approximately 30 percent (383 sq. km and 347 sq. km, respectively).<…> The total territory controlled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic equals 7059 sq. km which comprises 8 percent of the territory of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, i. e. 2.5 times less than 20 percent endlessly claimed by the leadership and representatives of Azerbaijan deliberately misleading the international community and the global public opinion.315
It must be emphasized that even if we factor in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, the total area of the territories of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan not controlled by Baku equals 11,309 sq. km which comprises 13.05 percent.
S. Kara-Murza explains quite accurately the reasons for juggling the figures: “The magical power of suggestion held by the figure is such that if a person has accepted any absurd quantitative allegation, it becomes almost impossible to oust it using not only logic, but also by other quantitative arguments. Figure has the quality of sticking irreversibly in the m i nd”.316
Shifting the focus from domestic problems to an aggressive rhetoric and outrage against Armenians
Our children look at other houses and see that other people live well and they feel ashamed,” says Jamila, returning. Write that it is the damned Armenians who are to blame for this.317
Encyclopedia Britannica qualifies as racist the conviction that racial characteristics have a decisive impact on capacities, intellect, morality and behavioral patterns or traits of an individual, rather than a community or social group.
But since we brought up the subject of culture, we won’t waste the time of our readers by describing the filth, unscrupulousness, greed, cowardice, baseness, treachery, cruelty, envy, cynicism and all the abomination that fills the inner world of Armenians.318
The verbal aggression is considered to be good manners in today’s Azerbaijan, despite the fact that all of the above apart from contradicting the professional ethics is a violation of the Azerbaijani legislation and falls under Article 148 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.319
Article 148. Insult
148.1. The insult, deliberate humiliation of honor and dignity of a person, expressed in the indecent form in the public statement, publicly or in mass media shown product – is punished by fine of three hundred up to one thousand of the nominal financial unit, or by public works for the term of up to two hundred forty hours, or by corrective work for the term of up to one year, or imprisonment for the term of up to six months.
10. Dehumanization and demonization of Armenians
The “enemy” appears as a visitant form the “antiworld”, an alien inverted space, and is portrayed as a being of “demonic” origin, knave or rogue.320
Amrali Ismailov: Armenians are the only nation on earth whose conscience and body retained the traces of curses hundreds and thousands year old, branded forever with abominable traits.321
Arlene Audergon in her book The War Hoteclass="underline" Psychological Dynamics in Violent Conflict322 gives this definition of terror tactics: “Dehumanization is a widely used tactics which consists in depicting a person or a group of persons as vermin to be destroyed”.