Interview with David Dean Judson, editor-in-chief of Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Q: Let me ask you a question as you are an expert in information warfare issues. There is an infowar policy between Armenia from one side and Azerbaijan and Turkey from another side. Which side has succeeded more in this war and has more advantages?
A: I think a good place to start any analysis of war and information warfare is not were we typically start. And we typically start by looking at the stories that journalists are working on. The Armenians are working on this, writing that, Azerbaijanis are writing this, the British are writing that. I think the more important way to consider the way the global media works is think about the stories the journalist are working from. We all work from a collection of cultural histories, prejudices, stereotypes.
Just a few days ago one of the research fellows from the Centre of strategic studies under the President of Republic of Azerbaijan showed me an essay that’s coming up a few days in the publication from Chatham house, the second or third most sophisticated, most respected foreign policy journals in the world. The essay is on Caspian politics. The journalist that wrote that story in first or second paragraph describes Azerbaijan. And the first sentences are: “Azerbaijan is an overwhelmingly Muslim country”… “Overwhelming” is a negative term. You would never describe America as “overwhelmingly Christian country”. “Overwhelming” is a term of violence in fact.
I don’t think that the journalist was probably trying to be prejudice towards Azerbaijan. But this is the story is working from. The next paragraph was “Armenia is a blockaded nation, that was in the third century the first nation to accept Christianity”. So before we’ve got to the fourth paragraph of that story we basically have in our mythology the Muslim army fighting against beleaguered Christians. It is story out the Bible almost, it is a parable.
So I think that where the media work, where obviously the Armenians have the advantage it’s still for against you. Because they have the supporting their effort to tell their story is symbolic baggage of Western civilization and culture prejudices and Orientalism. The real battle in many ways is a battle of symbols in Orientalism. Because that’s the way journalists do their job. And getting journalists to take responsibility for what they do, Western journalist, Eastern journalist, Northern journalist, Southern journalist. And analyze their own prejudices are before they begin a task because I think often such a problems are unintentional, they are culturally based. This is something we can solve, this is something we can challenge, but it is not something we can ignore.
Q: Armenians are trying to represent themselves as victims of Turks and Azerbaijanis. And what should Azerbaijan do in this information war? Should we follow the Armenian example or speak a lot about our achievements?
A: There are two answers to that question. Of course the tragedy, the drama, the victimhood of the 1 million people who lost their homes, family members, treasure and others are not something that could be forgotten and ignored, this is a real victimhood. But in terms of trying to communicate, I mean the world is weary.
We met with refugees in Baku. I was given a photographic book about the victims of Karabakh. It reminded me the book I have in my house that was given me by my farther. It was printed in 1953 called “We are humans too” about the refugees of Gaza. The dramatic photographs of the victims… So the situation has got worse since 1953 for the victims of Gaza, not better. On the one hand, we have to remember and not forget and to heal the wounds of those who have suffered, but at the same time we have to find ways not be victims, to get beyond the drama and as you said, to focus on building our lives, building your country, building your economy. Because nobody else would do it for you just because you are a victim.
Lala B.
News.Az
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