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Activism and Peace in the South Caucasus

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Activism and Peace in the South Caucasus ACTIVISM AND PEACE IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS Editors: Philip Gamaghelyan, Sevil Huseynova, Christina Soloyan, Pınar Sayan, Sophio Tskvariashvili Tbilisi 2019 © Caucasus Edition: Journal of Conflict Transformation ISSN 2155-5478 This publication has been produced in the framework of the project “Joint Platform for Realistic Peace in the South Caucasus” of the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation in partnership with the Center for Independent Social Research – Berlin. The Imagine Center is an independent, non-political organization that is dedicated to positively transforming relations and laying foundations for lasting and sustainable peace in conflict-torn societies. www.imaginedialogue.com, [email protected] The Center for Independent Social Research – Berlin (CISR-Berlin) is a non-governmental organization focused on social research, civil society development and education in cooperation with Eastern Europe and post-Soviet states. www.cisr-berlin.org, [email protected] The project “Joint Platform for Realistic Peace in the South Caucasus” is funded by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) / Funding program zivik with resources provided by the German Federal Foreign Office. In This Issue From the Editorial Team ............................................................................ 1 Conflicts and De-Sovietization of the South Caucasus Political Regimes and Memorial Landscape Sevil Huseynova, Mikayel Zolyan, Sergey Rumyantsev .................................. 3 Alternatives to State Approaches in Turkey and Russia: The Politics of Memory and Civic Activism in Comparison Özgür Sevgi Göral, Dmitry Dubrovsky, Margarita Ter-Oganezova ............... 36 Banality of Nationalism in the South Caucasus: Pro-Violence Practices of the Society in Georgia and Armenia Maia (Nukri) Tabidze, Arpi Atabekyan ............................................................ 68 Stories of Help and Rescue: the Georgian-Ossetian and Nagorno- Karabakh Conflicts Nona Shahnazaryan, Jemali (Thoma) Sukhashvili, and Zhala Banu ............... 84 Perspectives on Peace in the South Caucasus through the Lens of Environmentalists Jeyhun Veliyev, Tsira Gvasalia, Sofya Manukyan ....................................... 117 Authors .................................................................................................. 150 Editors .................................................................................................... 153 From the Editorial Team A number of articles in the Volume 3, Issue 1, 2018 of Caucasus Edition criticized the “NGO-ization” of activism in general and peace activism in particular. The paper “A Communitarian Peace Agenda for the South Caucasus: Supporting Everyday Peace Practices” by Vadim Romashov, Nuriyya Guliyeva, Lana Kokaia, and Tatia Kalatozishvili critiqued the (neo-)liberal approaches to peace. In “Women Challenging Gender Norms and Patriarchal Values in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation across the South Caucasus”, Milena Abrahamyan, Parvana Mammadova, and Sophio Tskhvariashvili critiqued how women’s rights NGOs in the South Caucasus challenge and/or reproduce gender roles and patriarchal values. Finally, in “Beyond NGOs: Decolonizing Peacebuilding and Human Rights,” Sona Dilanyan, Aia Beraia, and Hilal Yavuz criticize what they see as colonization of peacebuilding and women’s rights by professional networks of NGOs and funders and propose strategies for advancing the voice and leadership by those directly impacted violent by structures of nationalism and patriarchy. The current issue takes the next step in advancing the conversation about peace and activism, critically examining a number of practices conducted by non-NGO actors in areas ranging from environment to commemorations. Sevil Huseynova, Mikayel Zolyan, and Sergey Rumyantsev set the context for the issue with an article titled “Conflicts -Sovietizationand De of the South Caucasus: Political Regimes and Memorial Landscapes.” The authors discuss the controversial and non-linear processes of de- sovietization in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Özgür Sevgi Göral, Dmitry Dubrovsky, and Margarita Ter-Oganezova continue the memory theme in the “Alternatives to State Approaches in Turkey and Russia: The Politics of Memory and Civic Activism in Comparison.” This article focuses on civic memory initiatives in Turkey and Russia, two countries with a history of political violence. The civic memory initiatives, the authors argue, have been partially successful in eroding the nationalist official stance of these countries vis-à-vis their own controversial pasts. 1 From the Editorial Team The theme of violence takes a different turn in Maia (Nukri) Tabidze and Arpi Atabekyan’s piece. While the authors of the previous article look into civic initiatives that challenge nationalism, the authors of “Banality of Nationalism in the South Caucasus: Pro-violence Practices of the Society in Georgia and Armenia” study how the subtle narratives perpetuated in the society contribute to the maintenance of the status quo of war. Through “banal” examples of nationalism in Armenia and Georgia, they illustrate how nationalistic discourses of the state have found their ways in everyday lives of the citizenry. From cherries and bananas riding military airplanes to barbwire prints of socks, the authors examine visual and verbal content that contributes to the sustanability of the enemy image. Nona Shahnazaryan, Jemali (Thoma) Sukhashvili, and Zhala Banu study stories of rescue during the armed conflicts in the South Caucasus. In their “Stories of Help and Rescue: the Georgian-Ossetian and Nagorno- Karabakh Conflicts,” the co-authors examine how did so many people resist violent tendencies and choose to help the victims, saving them from death and the acts of rescue that had taken place . The final article of issue, by Jeyhun Veliyev, Sofia Manukyan, and Tsira Gvasalia, builds on their 2018 Caucasus Edition article that examined the potential of transboundary rivers to exacerbate conflicts or to be utilized as a means for conflict transformation. In the “Perspectives on Peace in the South Caucasus through the Lens of Environmentalists,” they interview environmental activists, environmental scientists, and professionals working in conservation organizations in Yerevan, Baku, and Tbilisi, exploring the range of environmental activism in each country and the challenges and opportunities for developing a regional scheme for environmental cooperation. The editorial team and all the co-authors express their deepest gratitude to ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) and the German Federal Foreign Office for making this collaboration and publication possible. Editorial Team: Philip Gamaghelyan, Sevil Huseynova, Christina Soloyan, Pınar Sayan, Sophio Tskvariashvili Tbilisi 2019 2 Conflicts and De- Sovietization of the South Caucasus Political Regimes and Memorial Landscapes Sevil Huseynova, Mikayel Zolyan, Sergey Rumyantsev Introduction The policy of “decommunization” (Osipchuk and Kasyanov 2017) (Rumyansev 2017) in Ukraine implemented in the context of confrontation with Russia revived interest in the Soviet legacy throughout the former Soviet Union. In the three countries of the South Caucasus, the process of deconstruction of the Soviet places of memory started in the very beginning of the 1990s and took place not only concurrently with the collapse of the Soviet Union, but also within the unfolding conflict contex t (Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia). The new urgency of the fight against the Soviet legacy sparked by decommunization o f Ukraine prompted the authors of this article to discuss the successes and failures of the seemingly long-cooled policy of de-sovietization in the South Caucasus. The key questions include: is complete “liberation” from the Soviet legacy possible almost three decades after the collapse of the USSR? Should it be forgotten or does the Soviet legacy need to be researched, redefined, and publicly discussed? What norms, values, and a wide range of practices define the current understanding of the Soviet legacy? Is it possible to claim that conflicts have left a unique imprint on the de-sovietization practices and discourses? 3 Conflicts and De-Sovietization of the South Caucasus Political Regimes and Memorial Landscapes Given the politics of the Soviet regime that sought to control all aspects of public and private life, we deem complete “liberation” very difficult to achieve. This is particularly true when the “liberation” is atte mpted by politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, and cultural figures who rose to prominence during the Soviet era. The authors of this analytical review attempt to provide answers to these complex questions by discussing the main stages, peculiarities, and events of the de-sovietization process in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. We believe that this approach will allow looking at de-sovietization as a controversial and non-linear process. The main focus of the analysis is the specificity of the succession of political regimes and the interplay between the reconstruction of public space and memory landscapes in th e conflict contexts and the memory of Stalin -era repressions. The authors also make an attempt to develop a range of recommendations on further steps in this area. The work on the article was divided the following way: Mikayel Zolyan authored the analytical review covering Armenia; Sevil Huseynova authored the analysis of the situation in Azerbaijan; and the analysis of the situation
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