BBC: The “cult of victory” and the Azerbaijani schoolchildren

PanARMENIAN.Net - After the second Karabakh war, the militant cult of sacrifice in Azerbaijan was replaced by a militant cult of victory, says an article published by the Russian service of BBC on Monday, December 26.

"Service to the motherland, loyalty to the people, hatred, hatred, hatred to the enemy!" is one of the slogans taught to children in some local schools.

A teacher identified in the article as Fikret has been teaching history for many years, trying to avoid difficult moments. He would not quote aggressive passages from school textbooks and instead encouraged students to find alternative sources of information

After the second Karabakh war, however, it has become harder to find a balance between doing the job he loves and not losing his job.

When Azerbaijan took control of the historic Armenian city of Shushi, the euphoria only increased. In some schools and kindergartens, this euphoria began to resemble xenophobic agitation, the article says.

“In recent months, videos of children during patriotic "events" have been actively spreading on social networks. In one such video, schoolchildren lined up in several rows throw up their hands with a shout of "Hurray!" when teachers list the names of former students who died in the war. On another, kindergarten boys dressed in camouflage walk into a classroom with crutches and bandaged legs and arms.

In a TV report on a local channel, children on a school assembly shout in chorus "Service to the Motherland, loyalty to the people, hatred, hatred, hatred to the enemy!" "These children are tomorrow's soldiers, doctors, teachers; our children who will defend our country on the front lines," the journalist comments.

It is unlikely that anyone in Azerbaijan has doubts about who these chants are meant for.

“The word "pro-Armenian" in Azerbaijan is actually an insult, and Armenian roots are compromising evidence. In another viral video, the host of a local TV channel calls French President Emmanuel Macron . “Pro-Armenian” - his name is shouted out by a children’s choir in a mocking rehash of the song “Pinocchio”.