MYTHS and CONFLICT in the SOUTH CAUCASUS VOLUME 1 Instrumentalisation of Historical Narratives
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MYTHS AND CONFLICT IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS VOLUME 1 Instrumentalisation of Historical Narratives Understanding conflict. Building peace. About International Alert International Alert is a 27-year-old independent peacebuilding organisation. We work with people who are directly affected by violent conflict to improve their prospects of peace. And we seek to influence the policies and ways of working of governments, international organisations like the UN and multinational companies, to reduce conflict risk and increase the prospects of peace. We work in Africa, several parts of Asia, the South Caucasus, the Middle East and Latin America, and have recently started work in the UK. Our policy work focuses on several key themes that influence prospects for peace and security – the economy, climate change, gender, the role of international institutions, the impact of development aid, and the effect of good and bad governance. We are one of the world’s leading peacebuilding NGOs with more than 200 staff based in London and 14 field offices. To learn more about how and where we work, visit www.international-alert.org. This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of International Alert and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. © International Alert 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without full attribution. Layout by D. R. ink, www.d-r-ink.com Myths and Conflict in the South Caucasus VOLUME 1 Instrumentalisation of Historical Narratives Editors Oksana Karpenko, Jana Javakhishvili Research supervisor Oksana Karpenko 2 | VOLUME 1 Myths and Conflict: Instrumentalisation of Historical Narratives Contents Acronyms 3 Acknowledgments 4 About the Contributors 6 Preface 8 SECTION 1: (De-)Sovietising and Nationalising History in the South Caucasus 12 INTRODUCTION 13 Results of a Comparative Analysis of School Textbooks Oksana Karpenko CHAPTER 1 31 Baku in the First Half of the 20th Century: The Space of “Friendship between Peoples” and Inter-ethnic Conflicts Sevil Huseinova CHAPTER 2 54 “Inventing Traditions”: The Theme of Sovietisation in History Textbooks of Soviet and Post-Soviet Armenia Tigran Matosyan CHAPTER 3 72 The De-Sovietisation and Nationalisation of History in Post-Soviet Georgia Nino Chikovani CHAPTER 4 92 Problems of Teaching 20th Century South Ossetian History in Schools Madina Beteeva and Oksana Karpenko CHAPTER 5 115 The De-Sovietisation and Nationalisation of History in Abkhaz Textbooks Inar Gitsba CHAPTER 6 134 “Prison of the Peoples” and “Friendship of Peoples” in Soviet and Post-Soviet History Textbooks of the USSR/Russia Oksana Karpenko SECTION 2: The Conflicts and Historical Narratives 165 CHAPTER 7 166 Armenia and Azerbaijan: The Nagorny Karabakh Conflict and the Reinterpretation of Narratives in History Textbooks Philip Gamaghelyan and Sergey Rumyantsev Acronyms | 3 Acronyms APFP Azerbaijan Popular Front Party APC Abkhaz People’s Council NOASSR North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic NCG National Council of Georgia OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe RSFSR Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic SOAO South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast’ SOGK United Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus SSR Soviet Socialist Republic USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ZDFR Transcaucasian Democratic Federal Republic 4 | VOLUME 1 Myths and Conflict: Instrumentalisation of Historical Narratives Acknowledgments This research has been conducted within the framework of the “South Caucasus Mediation and Dialogue Initiative”, which has been financed by the European Union and consisted of three phases. The first phase involved a reflection on peacebuilding work undertaken by civil society since the mid-1990s, including work with politicians, economic actors, women, media, academia and cultural figures. The aim of this reflection was to draw lessons and improve the quality of future initiatives, and the results are published in the book Mediation and Dialogue in the South Caucasus: A Reflection on 15 years of Conflict Transformation Initiatives.1 The second phase consisted of the “Myths and Conflict” strand, within which this research was conducted. The third phase comprised a training strand, using the findings of the other two strands to develop and launch a training manual designed to develop critical thinking in relation to the conflicts in the South Caucasus. The “Myths and Conflict” series came to fruition thanks to the help andinsights of a great many individuals to whom we are enormously grateful. The original idea for this research was the result of deep reflection and creative collaboration with International Alert’s partners in the “mediation” initiative: Jana (Darejan) Javakhishvili (Global Initiative on Psychiatry, Tbilisi), who became the “myths” strand coordinator and methodological supervisor; and Batal Kobakhia (Centre for Humanitarian Programmes, Abkhazia), to whom we would like to express our deep appreciation. Secondly, we would like to thank the researchers themselves, who are listed in full on pages 6-7, for undertaking such a momentous task. The themes researched within this series are quite taboo within the societies from which the researchers come. Therefore, entering into a cross-conflict, multi-component process required significant courage on behalf of the researchers. We would also like to extend our appreciation to the methodological advisers, who played a crucial role in encouraging and coordinating the respective research teams, providing tailored support where necessary: Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan (Eurasia Partnership Foundation) for overall methodological support to the process; Oksana Karpenko (Centre for Independent Social Research, St. Petersburg) for her supervision of the textbooks research; Philip Gamaghelyan (George Mason University) for the blogosphere strand; and Tina Tsomaia (Georgian Institute of Public Affairs) for the journalist strand. Special thanks also to long-time partners and colleagues Liana Kvarchelia and Arda Inal-Ipa (Centre for Humanitarian Programmes, Abkhazia) for their overall expert advice on and support in moving the process along – whether through their vision and strategic overview, methodological support, facilitation and editing skills, or simply moral support. 1 Available at http://www.international-alert.org/es/node/4529. Acknowledgments | 5 We are also grateful for the time, advice and support of our colleagues at International Alert, whose professional expertise has informed this process and the resulting publication in many ways: Larisa Sotieva, the author of the original project concept, without whose vision this initiative would never have been realised; Juliet Schofield as project manager; and more recently Mana Farooghi and Nargiza Saipidinova for their editorial and logistical support. Thanks also to the editors and translators – Simon Paul Hinchliff, Mikhail Minevich and Stuart Moir – for their painstaking work. Last but not least, Alert would like to thank the European Union for funding the “South Caucasus Mediation and Dialogue Initiative” and the UK Conflict Pool for their unerring support to Alert. Without their help, this work would not have been possible. 6 | VOLUME 1 Myths and Conflict: Instrumentalisation of Historical Narratives About the Contributors Madina Beteeva is an Associate Professor at the Agrarian State University in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia. Madina graduated in History and Philology from the South Ossetian State University in 1992. She received a doctoral degree in 2007. Her research interests include the history of Georgian-Ossetian political, economic, cultural and educational relations. Nino Chikovani is Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies and Head of the UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Dialogue at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Nino is also a Doctor and Professor of Historical Sciences at the Institute of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities. Nino’s main research interests include: perception and representation of history, cultural memory, problems of identity, and intercultural communication. Philip Gamaghelyan is the co-founder and co-director of the Imagine Centre for Conflict Transformation, an organisation dedicated to laying foundations for lasting and sustainable peace in conflict-torn societies. He is also the co-founder and former managing editor of the Journal of Conflict Transformation: Caucasus Edition. Philip initiated and facilitated numerous Azerbaijani-Armenian dialogue and training workshops with diverse audiences including students, politicians, journalists and educators. Philip holds a BA in Political Science from Yerevan State Linguistic University and an MA in Conflict Resolution from Brandeis University, Massachusetts. He is currently working on his PhD at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. Inar Gitsba graduated with a degree in Politics from the University of Gdańsk in Poland, specialising in international relations, European studies and globalisation. In 2008, Inar became a research fellow at the Abkhaz Centre for Strategic Studies. Since 2012, he is Head of the Turkey and Near East Department at the Abkhaz Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sevil Huseinova graduated in Law from Baku State University in 1998. From 2006 to 2009, she was