CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 95

NAREK SUKIASYAN
economic status 29 , the difference in standards of living in Armenia and
Azerbaijan matter more. In this regard, the living standards in Armenia were
much more desirable than those of Azerbaijan. 30
In 1965, there were also calls by Karabakh Armenians warning about
small scale violence that was perceived to bear ethnic motivations. 31 The
discontent regarding these incidents also contributed to the rise of ethnic
tensions. Armenians did not feel appropriate measures had been taken by the
authorities in order to address violence against Armenians.
The autonomous status of the region provided Karabakh Armenians
the right to develop and use their own language and learn it in school.
However, structural obstacles were created that impeded the exercising of
this right. Teachers were not allowed to receive certification in Yerevan.
Instead, they had to take courses in Baku, where interpretations of many
events in history textbooks contradicted those of Armenian academia. “The
History of the Armenian People” class was not permitted in Armenian
schools in Azerbaijan. 32 Moreover, the history books traced the settlement of
local Armenians to 1828 and presented the Christian cultural heritage of the
region as having a Caucasian Albanian-Azerbaijani origin. 33 Students from
NKAO scored lower in admission tests in institutions of higher education in
the Armenian SSR.
Aside from the decline in education, the Karabakh Armenians also felt
cultural discrimination. 34 In the 1930’s, 118 Armenian churches were closed
in the oblast. A local Azerbaijani author stated that Talaat Pasha, one of the
main responsible figures of the Armenian Genocide, was just an “unpleasant
personality”. 35 The cadre policy in NKAO was also perceived by the
Armenians to be unfair, which pushed local elites to seek employment
outside of the oblast. The lack of employment opportunities was also an
issue for unskilled labourers, causing young people to enrol at technical
colleges outside of the NKAO. Later finding work at industrial enterprises
within Azerbaijan starting from the eighth grade. 36 Aside from rising ethnic
tensions, the discriminatory policies also resulted in demographic stagnation
and the decline of the Armenians in the NKAO. On the other hand, as we
can see from Table 1.0, the percentage of the Azerbaijani population had
29
Philip G. Roeder “Soviet Federalism and Ethnic Mobilization”, World Politics, Vol. 43,
No. 2, (1991): 221
30
Yamskov, “Ethnic Conflict in the Transcausasus”, 640.
31
Libaridian ed., The Karabakh File, 47-48.
32
Yamskov, “Ethnic Conflict in the Transcausasus”, 640.
33
“Nagorno Karabakh: 1921-1988”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh,
accessed February 01, 2019, http://www.nkr.am/hy/karabakh-in-soviet-period.
34
Libaridian ed., The Karabakh File, 45.
35
Ibid, 49.
36
Philip G. Roeder, “Soviet Federalism and Ethnic Mobilization”, World Politics, Vol. 43,
No. 2, (1991): 199.; Zolyan, Нагорный Карабах: проблема и конфликт [Nagorno
Karabagh: the Problem and the Conflict], chap. 3, http://armenianhouse.org/zolyan/nf-
ru/karabakh/3.html.
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