The Song of Cher Caused an Anti-Armenian Scandal in Azerbaijan

Information about this anti-Armenian incident was published in 2014 in several media outlets of Azerbaijan. But over the past five years, little has changed. More precisely, practically nothing has changed.

And for this reason, I consider the publication of this material useful for reading and preservation since propaganda is constantly going on in our society to prepare the Armenian population for “peace establishment.”

The Armenian society hasn’t seen such feeble-mindedness and hatred even in its worst nightmares. Although in fairness, it should be noted that there are still individuals who try to artificially raise the percentage of hatred that supposedly exists in Armenia.

I repeat, there is no hatred of the neighboring state, but there is fair irritation towards those who claim the opposite, trying to present the irritation as hatred of their neighbors. What can we do – there still are many corrupt traitors of Armenia.

A real manifestation of hatred looks like this.

Cher’s song “Believe” became the occasion for another surge of manifestations of Armenophobia in Azerbaijan. According to baku.ws (“Депутат Милли Меджлиса призвал народ бойкотировать ресторан «Mado»”, “Parliamentarian of Milli Majlis urged the people to boycott the “Mado” restaurant”), the song of an ethnic Armenian played in one of the capital’s Turkish restaurants became the subject of the attention of media and numerous Internet users.

An opinion on this matter was expressed by one of the members of the Milli Majlis (parliament of Azerbaijan) Fazil Agamaly:

“As a citizen of Azerbaijan, I declare that public opinion is very important in these provisions. This cafe should be fined,” said the parliamentarian.

Agamaly said that playing the songs of the “aggressor” people in the public locations of the capital “is even worse than being an Armenian,” and the public should speak out against this by boycotting the given institution.

“Cafes of this kind where enemy music is played harm the national mentality and should be boycotted. Owners should not forget that they operate in Azerbaijan, and this kind of behavior can lead to serious sanctions,” said Agamaly.

Notably, the incident occurred during the international conference on tolerance in Baku. At the conference, Azerbaijani officials once again declared complete tolerance and the absence of intolerance in the country.

President Ilham Aliyev also characterized the country as a model of tolerance, simultaneously accusing the Armenians of vandalism.

Armenophobia in Azerbaijan is systematic. In addition to everyday cases like the one described above, there is an anti-Armenian sentiment in the media and educational programs of schools.

Monuments of the Armenian cultural heritage are either presented as Albanian or destroyed. The most famous of such cases was the destruction of a medieval Armenian cemetery with thousands of unique cross-stones in Jugha, Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.

The history of Armenia and Armenians is falsified. At the state level, attempts are being made to prove that the Armenians are not native in the region. The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is denied, and it is forbidden to name children Armenian names.

Armenian athletes, political, and cultural figures often do not participate in events in Azerbaijan, or their participation is accompanied by various accidents. Armenians are also often not allowed into the country on an ethnic basis regardless of citizenship.