THE 42ND ISSUE OF THE REVIEW OF ARMENIAN STUDIES JOURNAL HAS BEEN PUBLISHED
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11.12.2020


The newly published 42nd issue of the Review of Armenian Studies journal contains 5 articles.

The first article in the 42nd issue, titled “Facts and Comments” and authored by Alev Kılıç, covers Turkey-Armenia relations as well as domestic and international developments of Armenia in the period of August to December of 2020. The period has brought about disastrous developments for Armenia, starting with an inapt handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp downturn in the economy, and disappointing failures of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government in fulfilling its promises and carrying out reforms. To divert attention away from its failures, the government has played the radical nationalism card and has adopted a bellicose rhetoric that has led to a war with Azerbaijan, resulting in a humiliating defeat for Armenia. Turkey, having firmly expressed its support for Azerbaijan, was officially declared by Armenia to be the enemy, leading to an all-time low in bilateral relations between the two sides.

In their article titled “The Propaganda In Armenia Of The Five-Year Development Plans Implemented In The Soviet Union”, Tuğba Baytimur, Caner Çakı, and Ferit Arda Arıca analyze several propaganda posters prepared by the Soviet Union to convince the people of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic that the five-year development plans of Soviet Union would be beneficial for Armenia and its people and also the Soviet Union as a whole. Using Karl Bühler’s Organon Model, the authors interpret the “expressiveness”, “representation”, and “appeal” functions of the propaganda posters, thereby revealing the messages that Soviet authorities were trying to give to the masses. The authors argue that the propaganda posters that did not seek to glorify Communist ideology or leadership cults, but rather emphasized the importance of work and labor.

In her article titled “Implementation Of The EU’s Normative Power In Armenia: Transformation Or Toleration?”, Tutku Dilaver evaluates the effectiveness of the European Union as a “normative power” in Armenia. To achieve this, she first delves into the literature of normative power and the EU’s overall stance concerning this form of power. She also comprehensively narrates the history and framework of the relations between the EU and Armenia, highlighting what the EU seeks to achieve in Armenia and how Armenia approaches the EU. Dilaver’s study reveals that the EU cannot use its normative power in Armenia effectively, both because of EU’s inconsistent and lax approach towards Armenia in the implementation reforms and Armenia’s unwillingness to carry out reforms due to the subversive influence of Russia in the country. As such, the EU is demonstrated to be only a limited normative power in Armenia.

In her article titled “Attempts By Armenia And Related Actors To Disrupt Azerbaijan-Georgia Relations”, Samira Habibbayli examines the activities of Armenia (and actors related to this country through kinship or interest) carried out to negatively influence the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Habibbayli begins by outlining the positions of Azerbaijan and Georgia on the one hand, and Armenia on the other hand in the South Caucasus. Feeling left out of the regional cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia and neighboring countries such as Turkey and threatened by the successes of its rival Azerbaijan, Armenia seeks ways to sabotage the relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia. For this, Armenia utilizes a multitude of actors, including government officials, NGOs, religious functionaries, and foreign politicians. Habibbayli argues that Armenia does manage to cause provocations and tensions in Azerbaijani-Georgia relations, but that Azerbaijani-Georgia relations enjoy a strong foundation that must nevertheless be strengthened to better resist attempts at sabotage.

In her article titled “The Events In Zangezur From 1918 To 1921 And The Transfer Of Zangezur To Armenia”, Ceyda Acicbe narrates the chain of events that resulted in the transfer of the Azerbaijani land of Zangezur to Armenia in a fait accompli manner. Acicbe explains to the reader the importance of Zangezur for the Caucasus region and how the various powers viewed this strategically important piece of land. Despite historically being an Azerbaijani land, the political situation began to turn against Azerbaijanis favor in terms of Zangezur with the excursions of Tsarist Russia into the South Caucasus in the 19th century and the mass arrival of Armenians to region with the encouragement of the Russians. Through the mass violence perpetrated by radical-nationalist Armenian groups and the political machinations in the Soviet Union geared towards cutting off Azerbaijan’s ties with Turkey and the wider Turkish world, Zangezur became a part of Armenia.

For the page of the Review of Armenian Studies, please visit: https://avim.org.tr/tr/Dergiler/Review-Of-Armenian-Studies

If you wish to subscribe to the journal or buy the new issue, please contact: motulun@avim.org.tr   

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