The Armenian Anthem May Be Heard in Baku for the First Time

The participation of Armenian wrestlers in the U17 World Championships will test whether the cautious political dialogue between the two countries can move beyond negotiating rooms.

If one of Armenia’s young wrestlers climbs to the top of the podium in Baku, the medal ceremony will look much like dozens of others held at international competitions: a medal, a flag and several minutes of solemn music.

In this case, however, those few minutes could acquire significance extending far beyond sport. The Armenian tricolor would be raised above the arena, and Armenia’s national anthem would apparently be played in the Azerbaijani capital for the first time at a competition of this level.

The U17 World Wrestling Championships will be held in Baku from July 27 to August 2, rather than from July 17 as initially reported. The National Gymnastics Arena will host the event. The competition will begin with Greco-Roman wrestling, followed by women’s wrestling, and conclude with freestyle wrestling, according to United World Wrestling.

Armenia will be represented by 16 athletes: six freestyle wrestlers and 10 Greco-Roman wrestlers. They are expected to be accompanied by coaches and representatives of the Wrestling Federation of Armenia.

“We are going to Baku. All security guarantees have been provided and all issues have been resolved,” said Arayik Baghdadyan, secretary general of the Wrestling Federation of Armenia.

According to Baghdadyan, the Armenian side requested not only the standard guarantees provided to all championship participants but also additional security measures. Those conditions, he said, were accepted.

The first part of the delegation is expected to arrive in Baku via Tbilisi on July 24. The Greco-Roman wrestlers will arrive first, followed by the freestyle team after the first group completes its events. The schedule will reduce the length of each group’s stay in Azerbaijan and simplify the organization of security measures.

Until recently, it remained unclear whether the trip would take place at all. In mid-July, Azerbaijani sports sources reported that the Armenian team would miss the championships because it had failed to register before the deadline. The names of Armenian athletes subsequently appeared on entry lists, however, and the Wrestling Federation of Armenia officially confirmed the team’s participation.

The shift from an expected withdrawal to a confirmed visit demonstrates how complicated even technical contacts between the two countries remain. A decision that would be routine for almost any other sports federation required negotiations, additional guarantees and a carefully planned travel route.

Sport as a domain of mistrust

For decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have viewed international tournaments not only as athletic contests but also as a continuation of their conflict by other means. Flags, anthems, the names of athletes and the reactions of spectators have all acquired political significance.

After wars, mutual accusations and the absence of diplomatic relations, the journey of Armenian teenagers to Baku will inevitably become a test for both sides.

For Azerbaijan, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that the country can guarantee the Armenian delegation’s safety and enforce international sporting rules. For Armenia, it represents a willingness to send athletes to a country with which public relations remain burdened by memories of war and mutual distrust.

Armenian wrestlers last competed in a major tournament in Baku during the inaugural European Games in June 2015. The Armenian team’s presence was accompanied by tension in the stands.

One of the most memorable episodes occurred during the medal ceremony for wrestler Arthur Aleksanian, who won silver. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev presented him with the medal. When some spectators began to whistle, Aliyev gestured to the crowd to stop. The scene lasted only briefly, but it became a rare moment in which a senior Azerbaijani leader publicly demanded that attitudes toward the Armenian state be separated from the treatment of an individual athlete.

The Armenian team left Baku with another silver medal, thats why Armenia’s anthem did not played during the medal ceremonies.

A history of journeys that never happened

In other years, attempts to use sport and culture as platforms for limited contact frequently ended in withdrawals.

In 2012, Armenia withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku. The decision followed public calls by Armenian performers to boycott the event. The European Broadcasting Union said it regretted the withdrawal, despite efforts to ensure the Armenian delegation’s participation.

In May 2019, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a midfielder for the London football club Arsenal, did not travel to Baku for the UEFA Europa League final against Chelsea. The Azerbaijani authorities and European football officials provided security guarantees, but the player, his family and the club concluded that the trip posed too great a risk.

Sporting contacts became even more sensitive after the Second Karabakh War. In April 2023, during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, a man seized the Azerbaijani flag from a participant in the flag parade and set it on fire. The European Weightlifting Federation described the incident as a serious attack on sporting values and the principles of fair play. The Azerbaijani team withdrew from the tournament and left Armenia. The episode was a reminder of how quickly a symbolic act can destroy months of preparation and negotiation.

An anthem already heard in Yerevan

There is another sporting precedent in relations between the two countries.

In September 2009, Azerbaijani judoka Elmar Gasimov won the European Junior Championships in Yerevan. After his victory, the Azerbaijani flag was raised and the national anthem was played. It was the first time Azerbaijani athletes had participated in an international competition held in Armenia.

Gasimov’s victory was celebrated in Baku as historic. Yet it did not open an era of regular reciprocal visits. New crises, armed clashes and two wars followed. That is why the possible playing of the Armenian anthem in Baku should not be presented as evidence of final reconciliation. One championship cannot eliminate political disagreements or transform public attitudes. But it can establish a precedent — and in a relationship where almost every contact begins with questions about security, even a precedent matters.

A test for Baku

The championship’s main test will not concern only the protection of the Armenian delegation. The spectators’ response will be no less important. Organizers must ensure that Armenian athletes can enter the mat under their national flag, hear their country officially announced and, if they win, take part in a complete medal ceremony. Any whistling, insult or provocation would immediately become political news and could be used by opponents of normalization.

A restrained and respectful response, by contrast, would demonstrate that Azerbaijani society can view an Armenian participant first and foremost as an athlete — especially because these competitors are teenagers who bear no responsibility for the decades-long conflict.

The Armenian side carries a similar responsibility. Participation in the championship requires respect for the rules of the host country and the avoidance of political gestures that could provoke a confrontation.

Sport cannot replace a peace treaty, nor can it resolve questions involving borders, transport links, detainees or diplomatic relations. But it can create something that has been almost entirely absent between Azerbaijan and Armenia for decades: a space for direct and relatively safe contact.

On the mat, athletes will compete for medals. Around it, the two countries may be learning a more difficult art — how to stand alongside one another, follow the rules and recognize the other side’s victory.

If a young Armenian wrestler wins gold, spectators in Baku will hear a melody that for many years has been perceived there almost exclusively as a symbol of an adversary. For a few minutes, it will become what a national anthem at a sporting event is meant to be: music honoring a winner. And perhaps the championship’s most important achievement would be for that moment to feel ordinary.