Armenian language is taught in Azerbaijan

Baku/15.11.21/Turan: There is a growing interest in learning the Armenian language in Azerbaijan. In 2015, in Baku, the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan published an Armenian language textbook written by Khatam Jabbarly, a doctor of political sciences, a native of Armenia. In 2018, the Baku University of Languages published a textbook "Grammar of the Armenian language", written by senior lecturer of the Department of Caucasian Studies Huseyn Askerov.

"Readers want to know about Armenia from primary sources", according to Telman Gasymly, an Armenian political scientist and expert in the Armenian language. He told Turan that the Armenian language was studied at the Baku University of Languages, the Azerbaijan University of Economics, the Military Academy, the Border Service and the State Security Service. The last three departments have created special courses for their employees.

"There had been interest in the Armenian language until 2020, although not as strong as now. The reason for the growing interest in learning this language is that readers want to know about Armenia not from translated publications but directly from Armenian sources. Journalists, political scientists, politicians and representatives of other professions study the Armenian language for their career growth and expansion of knowledge about the neighboring people," Telman Gasymly believes.

However, domestic specialists are in no position to satisfy the growing interest in the Armenian language. Very few former residents of Armenia who moved to Azerbaijan are conversant with the literary language properly. Many of them have retired from active work by age, the rest are engaged in other professions and cannot devote time to teaching. These people work on radio, television and electronic media, covering events in Armenia. Several specialists work in the former Armenian church in Baku where historical books in the Armenian language are kept. For the lack of specialists, the teachers of the Armenian language were those who studied it at the courses, T. Gasymly added.

"The Armenian language textbooks that are published in Azerbaijan are not original creative works of authors. These are mainly translations into Azerbaijani of textbooks published in Russia and the UK for the population of these countries. Translators attribute authorship to themselves. I know a single, high-quality textbook of the Armenian language for military personnel really authored by Bahram Bayramov. He has been retired for a long time," T. Gasymly said.

In an interview with Turan, political expert and journalist Nijat Ismailov noted that the interest in learning the Armenian language is caused by the need for such specialists in the civil service.

"The society realized that in order to integrate with the Armenians, it is necessary to know their language"

"After the 2020 war, the popularity of military service in the special forces has grown in Azerbaijan. Officers-graduates of the Military Academy are admitted to the special forces provided they  meet certain physical requirements. Those who do not meet the criteria hope to be admitted for their knowledge of the Armenian language. The second reason is that the state encourages the study of the Armenian language to work on the integration of Karabakh Armenians with the Azerbaijani society. The country needs officials with knowledge of the Armenian language," N. Ismailov said.

Prior to the last year's war in Karabakh, Azerbaijanis had no serious interest in the Armenian language, peacemaker Avaz Hasanov told Turan. At that time, he was aware of the Armenian language circle at the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan only.

"Now the society has realized that specialists are required for rapprochement with Armenia, for integration of Karabakh Armenians with the Azerbaijani society. The state promotes the interest of Azerbaijanis in learning the Armenian language. Since 2020, this interest has grown. The state needs to demonstrate to the world its readiness to live peacefully side by side and together with Armenians, therefore, the creation of opportunities for mastering the Armenian language is declared. On the other hand, there is a practical task of creating a corps of specialists to work in Karabakh, and in electronic media broadcasting to the Armenian population in Karabakh and Armenia," Avaz Hasanov explained.

On October 22, 2021, the Azerbaijani State University of Economics (UNEC) started teaching the Armenian language. Free of charge courses for UNEC researchers have been set up, and 23 students are presently trained.

"The news about the Armenian language courses in Azerbaijan was received favorably"

As the head of the department of the UNEC Research Center Rena Huseynova told Turan, the courses are organized by the Center for the Study of the Armenian Economy. The purpose of the courses is to train personnel to monitor the Armenian press, prepare materials on the Armenian economy, and research in this area.

Asked about the level of knowledge of graduates, she replied that "these courses are free for employees of the research centers of our university; because of the pandemic, they are held online twice a week, for one academic hour. Following the results of teaching, the cadets will pass an exam and receive certificates in line with their knowledge. Graduates will be able to read and translate Armenian texts, conduct dialogues in Armenian, and receive full-fledged information about the state of the Armenian economy."

It should be noted that the UNEC has 32 research centers.

According to Rena Huseynova, press reports about the opening of these courses at the University of Economics aroused great interest in Azerbaijan. "Representatives of various professions and young people volunteered to study the Armenian language. Judging by publications in the press, the Azerbaijani public received the news about the opening of the courses favorably."

She clarified that at the first stage, the courses taught by the author of the Armenian grammar textbook and the teacher of the Azerbaijan University of Languages Huseyn Askerov, will last six months.

Huseyn Askerov declined to answer Turan's questions about the teaching of the Armenian language explaining this by the fact that it was necessary to coordinate an interview with the vice-rector of the University of Languages. "They tell me that when answering journalists' questions, I go beyond my authority," explained the author of the textbook and the teacher of the Armenian language.-0-