Armenia's Karabakh propaganda on Eurovision

The 54th Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow on Saturday turned out to be an arena of politics. When the host from Moscow turned the live feed to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, striking pictures were reflected to television screens worldwide.

Sirusho, the Armenian pop star who represented the country last year with the song “Qele Qele,” was onscreen to report the Armenian votes when she lifted the card she was holding to cover her face. There was a photograph of "Menk Yenk Mer Sarerı" (We Are Our Own Mountains), in another name, "Dad u Bab" (Grandmother and Grandfather), the gigantic statue that is the symbol of the Armenian administration of Nagorno-Karabakh, on the card. The same picture was also on barcovision. 

Azerbaijan complained, Russia censored video
Sisters İnka and Anuysh Arsagian, Armenian representatives with the song “Jan Jan,” who landed in 10th place, had images of Nagorno-Karabakh, alongside the cultural beings of Armenia, in their video that was shown in the semifinals. The mentioned images were cut from the video with Russia’s intervention after Azerbaijan complained. The Armenian press put the matter on the agenda after the contest. The press had two different approaches: Some said Eurovision, as usual, was overshadowed by politics, and others argued that Armenia presented its stance on Karabakh clearly once more.

Criticizing Armenia’s stance
Levon Barseghian, president of a journalists’ club called Asparez from Gyumri, the second biggest city in Armenia, said: “The Eurovision is not a contest; it is baloney in the strictest sense of the word. It is lacking seriousness and integrity; that is why I do not even take it seriously.”

Barseghian also criticized the images on television screens: “I am aware of Karabakh’s importance to Armenia, but you cannot get results to political problems with such simple solutions.”

‘Armenia presented its determined stance on Karabakh’
Aram Abrahamyan, editor-in-chief of Aravot, Armenia’s best-selling newspaper, said he thinks Armenia’s stance is right. He believes Armenia presented its stance on Karabakh clearly once more to the world. “Russia had the Karabakh images cut from the video due to the acts of Azerbaijanis. I do not believe they have a right to this kind of intervention. The mentioned statue is the symbol of Karabakh; therefore it is ours, too.”

Antranik Tevanyan, editor-in-chief for “7or” (Seven Days) newspaper, also found Armenia’s stance appropriate: “The act of Armenia was right and in its place.”