Language becomes next battleground as peace approaches in S Caucasus
As Azerbaijan and Armenia move closer to a peace agreement, and as current and "potential" issues are raised, it is not surprising that some parties with no interest in peace will try to sabotage it. This conflict, which has lasted for years, has always had two sides: those who want some form of peace, and the "fascist" ideologues who oppose peace, seek eternal hostility, and hope for war. This time, the issue came from a rather interesting and amusing issue.
Every multilingual region has its own linguistic ecosystem, a tapestry of names, pronunciations, and historical terms shaped by centuries of coexistence. What to one nation is a standard expression may sound unfamiliar to another, but this is precisely how language works. Yet in the South Caucasus, even linguistic variation is now being framed as a political act. The recent uproar over Azerbaijan’s state news agency using the term “İrevan” is a prime example of how manufactured sensitivities are being leveraged to create controversy where none objectively exists.
An Armenian Telegram channel portraying the use of the term “İrevan” by Azerbaijan’s State Information Agency as a “provocation” has once again demonstrated how trivial issues are being........





















Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Tarik Cyril Amar
Sabine Sterk
Stefano Lusa
Mort Laitner
Mark Travers Ph.d
Ellen Ginsberg Simon
Gilles Touboul
John Nosta