How can Armenians and Azerbaijanis heal from trauma and establish a border?

The development of interethnic conflicts is usually accompanied by the spread of negative myths and stereotypes about the enemy. Domestic or intercommunal problems existing in reality are condensed and generalised, demonising and dehumanising the other side. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict could serve as a textbook example in this regard: two societies with a centuries-long history of living together and much in common in everyday life and culture became estranged as a result of decades-long hostile propaganda.

What narratives were developed during the Soviet era, which are readily cultivated today, and what can be done about them to make the conflict less viable in the long term? Boris Navasardyan, Honorary President of Yerevan Press Club, and Rauf Garaghezov, Azerbaijani analyst, social psychology specialist, talked about the existing narratives in the ‘Civilnet’ studio.

The programme was produced within the framework of the ‘Line of Contact’ joint initiative of Yerevan and Baku Press Clubs and broadcast on CivilNet.