Some Remarks on the Main Directions of Falsifications of the History in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: the Role of the State and New Tendencies

Abstract

The objective of the present article is to investigate the main fields of falsifications of the history in post-Soviet Azerbaijan, as well as the aims of spreading historical falsifications. The key issue is the preliminary description and interpretation of the state's involvement in various aspects of mentioned falsifications. The article on the basis of a descriptive-analytical approach examines the new tendencies observed in the historical falsifications in Azerbaijan and shows their prime targets, as well as the use of pseudo-scientific researches in the anti-Armenian policy of that state. On the basis of the descriptive-analytical method, the article examines new tendencies observed in falsifications of history by Azerbaijani scholars and identifies their prime targets, as well as the use of pseudo-scientific researches in the anti-Armenian policy of that state. Although historical falsifications in Azerbaijan target all the neighbors of that country, including Georgia and the Russian Federation, the article emphasizes the presentation and partial examination of the falsifications concerning Armenia and Iran. The article also presents the “scientific” centers dealing with historical falsifications in Azerbaijan, and the “studies” published by them, in which the aim of falsifications addressed to the Armenian people is only the demonisation of Armenians and to deepen the anti-Armenian propaganda in the Azerbaijani society. The article's main conclusion is that falsifications in historiographical research in post-Soviet Azerbaijan are the consequence of state orders, the number of which has increased significantly since Ilham Aliyev's second term of rule.