At the end of the 19th century, the formation of Azerbaijan's self-consciousness was based on opposing Armenians. Azerbaijani intellectuals often wrote about it.
The Azerbaijani society has already been infected with Armenophobia. Angela Elibegova
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 25, ARTSAKHPRESS: Expert on Azerbaijani studies Angela Elibegova noted in an interview with ArtsakhPress talking about the report on anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan: Organized Hate Speech and Hostility Against Armenians, which was presented today at the conference of Artsakh Ombudsaan.
According to Elibegova, this opposition has gradually led to the formation of negative attitude of the Azerbaijanis towards the Armenians.
She noted that this phenomenon in the Soviet era was hidden, but it later led to painful consequences. The massacres of Armenians took place in 1988 in Sumgait and then in Baku.
"Since the independence, Azerbaijan has adopted Armenophobia as an official policy. Armenophobia has turned into ideology in the country. In every second speech of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, we see facts of Armenophobia that Armenians are allegedly "vandal", "fascist", "barbarians", "enemy of Azerbaijanis" and so on. Such theses of the Azeri president are accepted by his society.
In my opinion, one of the most serious manifestations of the problem is the psychological pressure on their own children. They are sowing hatred from childhood among them. The Azerbaijani authorities are not going to solve the problem of Armenophobia. The Azerbaijani society has already been infected with Armenophobia.
As of today, I do not see solutions to the problem. Let me bring some examples. People who have Armenian surnames are not allowed to enter the country. They even persecute those people whose ancestors were Armenian. Any negative phenomena or act committed by Armenians are linked to Armenians, "she concluded.
