THE MUSIC AND NATIONALISM IN AZERBAIJAN PROPAGANDA AGAINST ARMENIA'S INVASION OF KARABAKH: AN EXAMINATION ON THE SONG OF "VOICE OF KARABAKH"

Öz

From past to present, many countries have used music to serve various propaganda purposes. One of the aims of this propaganda was to strengthen nationalist feelings and prepare the masses for war. In the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan used music for propaganda purposes in the process of bringing nationalist sentiments to the fore in Azerbaijan and strengthening the public opinion about the war against the Armenian forces that occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Shortly before the clashes that broke out between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces on September 27, 2020, a clip called "The Voice of Karabakh" was published with the support of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan used the clip for propaganda purposes both to prove the legitimacy of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the international arena and to strengthen the sense of nationalism in the national public opinion through the clip about the occupation of Karabakh by Armenian forces. It was tried to reveal how Azerbaijan reflected the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh of the Armenian forces in both national and international public opinion and what messages it gave to the Azerbaijani public opinion about Nagorno-Karabakh through music, by examining the clip called “The Voice of Karabakh”, which introduced Azerbaijan's Karabakh conflict. For this purpose, the visual codes in the clip in the light of the semiotics concepts of the US linguist Charles Sanders Peirce and the verbal codes of the song in the light of the semiotics concepts of the of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure were analyzed. In the findings of the study, it was revealed that the Armenian occupation soldiers, who occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, were introduced as units that committed war crimes by murdering civilians, on the other hand, the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh was presented as Azerbaijan's national mourning in the Azerbaijani public opinion through the song. In this way, it was concluded that support was requested for the intervention of the Azerbaijani army to Karabakh, by emphasizing the nationalist sentiments through the song.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Karabakh
• Propaganda
• Music

ERMENİSTAN’IN KARABAĞ İŞGALİNE KARŞI AZERBAYCAN PROPAGANDASINDA MÜZİK VE MİLLİYETÇİLİK: “KARABAĞ’IN SESİ” ŞARKISI ÜZERİNE İNCELEME

Öz

Geçmişten günümüze pek çok ülke, müziği propagandanın amaçlarına hizmet etmesi için kullanmıştır. Milliyetçi duyguların güçlendirilerek, kitlelerin savaşa hazırlanması da bu propaganda amaçlarından biri
olmuştur. 2020 Dağlık Karabağ Savaşı’nda da Azerbaycan, Dağlık Karabağ’ı işgal eden Ermeni güçlerine karşı Azerbaycan’da milliyetçi duyguların ön plana çıkarılması ve savaşa yönelik kamuoyunun güçlendirilmesi sürecinde müzikten propaganda amacıyla yararlanmıştır. 27 Eylül 2020 tarihinde Azerbaycan ve Ermeni güçleri arasında başlayan çatışmalardan kısa bir süre önce Azerbaycan Cumhuriyeti Savunma Bakanlığı’nın desteğiyle hazırlanan “Karabağ’ın Sesi” adlı klip yayınlanmıştır. Karabağ’ın Ermeni güçleri tarafından işgalini konu alan klip üzerinden Azerbaycan, hem Dağlık Karabağ mücadelesinin uluslararası alanda meşruluğunu kanıtlamak hem de ulusal kamuoyunda milliyetçilik duygusunu güçlendirmek amacıyla klipten propaganda amacıyla yararlanmıştır. Çalışmada Azerbaycan’ın Karabağ mücadelesini tanıtan “Karabağ’ın Sesi” adlı klip incelenerek, Azerbaycan’ın müzik yoluyla propaganda boyutunda gerek ulusal gerekse uluslararası kamuoyunda Ermeni güçlerinin Dağlık Karabağ işgalini ne şekilde yansıttığı ve Azerbaycan kamuoyuna Dağlık Karabağ’la ilgili hangi mesajları verdiği ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu amaçla çalışmada klipte yer alan görsel kodlar ABD’li dilbilimci Charles Sanders Peirce’in ve şarkının sözel kodları da İsviçreli dilbilimci Ferdinand de Saussure’ün göstergebilim kavramları ışığında analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada elde edilen bulgularda şarkı üzerinden Dağlık Karabağ’ı işgal eden Ermeni işgal güçlerinin sivilleri katlederek savaş suçu işleyen birlikler olarak tanıtıldığı, diğer yandan Azerbaycan kamuoyunda Dağlık Karabağ’ın işgalinin Azerbaycan’ın ulusal matemi olarak sunulduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu şekilde şarkı üzerinden milliyetçilik duyguları ön plana çıkarılarak, Azerbaycan ordusunun Karabağ’a müdahalesine destek istendiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Ermenistan
• Azerbaycan
• Karabağ
• Propaganda
• Müzik

Kaynakça

1. Abushov, Kavus. “Russian Foreign Policy towards the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Prudent Geopolitics, Incapacity or Identity?.” East European Politics 35, no. 1 (2019): 72-92.
2. Al-Taee, Nasser. “Voices of Peace and the Legacy of Reconciliation: Popular Music, Nationalism, and the Quest for Peace in the Middle East.” Popular Music 21, no. 1 (2002): 41-61.
3. Ambrosio, Thomas. “Unfreezing the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict? Evaluating Peacemaking Efforts under the Obama Administration.” Ethnopolitics 10, no. 1 (2011): 93-114.
4. Atanesyan, Arthur. “Media Framing on Armed Conflicts: Limits of Peace Journalism on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 14, no. 4 (2020): 534-550.
5. Azebaycan Savunma Bakanlığı. “Karabağ’ı Sesi Klibi.” Erişim 27 Haziran 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtTiEJj4GIs.
6. Baumann, Matthias, Radeloff, Volker C., Avedian, Vahagn, & Kuemmerle, Tobias. “Land-use Change in the Caucasus during and after the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.” Regional Environmental Change 15, no. 8 (2015): 1703-1716.
7. Blank, Stephen. “US Policy, Azerbaijan, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.” Mediterranean Quarterly 26, no. 2 (2015): 99-114.
8. Brincker, Benedikte. “The Role of Classical Music in the Construction of Nationalism: An Analysis of Danish Consensus Nationalism and the Reception of Carl Nielsen.” Nations and Nationalism 14, no. 4 (2008): 684-699.

9. Cornell, Svante E. “Turkey and the Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh: A Delicate Balance.” Middle Eastern Studies 34, no. 1 (1998): 51-72.
10. Çalışkan, Sadık and Doğan, Derya Karaburun. “Kıbrıs Barış Harekâtı'nda Türkülerin Propaganda Amaçlı Kullanılması: ‘Kıbrıs'a Çıktık’ Türküsü Üzerine İnceleme.” Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 20, no. 2 (2020): 157-172.
11. De Waal, Thomas. “Remaking the Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Process.” Survival 52, no. 4 (2010): 159-176.
12. Fiske, John. İletişim Çalışmalarına Giriş. Çev., Süleyman İrvan. 5. Basım. Ankara: Bilim ve Sanat Yayınları, 2017.
13. Gamaghelyan, Phil. “Rethinking the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Identity, Politics, Scholarship.” International Negotiation 15, no. 1 (2010): 33-56.
14. German, Tracey. “The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia: Security Issues in the Caucasus.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 32, no. 2 (2012): 216-229.
15. Goble, J. Scott. “Nationalism in United States Music Education during World War II.” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 30, no. 2 (2009): 103-117.
16. Halbach, Uwe. “A Case Sui Generis: Nagorno-Karabakh in Comparison with Other Ethnic Conflicts in Eastern Europe.” In Europe’s Next Avoidable War, edited by Michael Kambeck, Sargis Ghazaryan, 43-60. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
17. Hudson, Robert. “Songs of Seduction: Popular Music and Serbian Nationalism.” Patterns of Prejudice 37, no. 2 (2003): 157-176.
18. Iskandarov, Khayal and Gawliczek, Piotr. “The Second Karabakh War as a War of New Generation.” Journal of Scientific Papers «Social development and Security» 11, no. 2 (2021): 91-99.
19. Janssen, David. “The Impact of the European Union on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.” Turkish Policy Quarterly 11, no. 1 (2012): 155-163.
20. Kaminsky, David. “Keeping Sweden Swedish: Folk Music, Right-Wing Nationalism, and the Immigration Debate.” Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology 49, no. 1 (2012): 73-96.
21. Karaburun Doğan, Derya. “Faşizm Propagandasında Müziğin Rolü: Mussolini İtalyası Örneği.” Folklor/Edebiyat 25, no. 97 (2019): 229-244.
22. Kasim, Kamer. "The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, Caspian Oil and Regional Powers.” In The Politics of Caspian Oil, edited by Bülent Gökay, 185-198. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.
23. Kasim, Kamer. “American Policy toward the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict and Implications for its Resolution.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 32, no. 2 (2012): 230-244.
24. Manuel, Peter. “Marxism, Nationalism and Popular Music in Revolutionary Cuba.” Popular Music 6, no. 2 (1987): 161-178.
25. Melo, James. “Geniuses in the Forest? Nationalism in Brazilian Music.” Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas 35, no. 64 (2002): 46-50.
26. Minasyan, Sergey. “The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Context of South Caucasus Regional Security Issues: An Armenian Perspective.” Nationalities Papers 45, no. 1 (2017): 131-139.
27. Mooradian, Moorad, & Druckman, Daniel. “Hurting Stalemate or Mediation? The Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, 1990-95.” Journal of Peace Research 36, no. 6 (1999): 709-727.
28. Najafizadeh, Mehrangiz. “Ethnic Conflict and Forced Displacement: Narratives of Azeri IDP and Refugee Women from the Nagorno-Karabakh War.” Journal of International Women's Studies 14, no. 1 (2013): 161-183.
29. Parfitt, Richard. “‘Oh, What Matter, When for Erin Dear We Fall?’: Music and Irish Nationalism, 1848–1913.” Irish Studies Review 23, no. 4 (2015): 480-494.
30. Pashayeva, Gulshan. “The Nagorno Karabakh Conflict in the Aftermath of the Russia-Georgia War.” Turkish Policy Quarterly 8, no. 4 (2009): 55-69.
31. Rancier, Megan. “Resurrecting the Nomads: Historical Nostalgia and Modern Nationalism in Contemporary Kazakh Popular Music Videos.” Popular Music and Society 32, no. 3 (2009): 387-405.
32. Sanga, Imani. “Music and Nationalism in Tanzania: Dynamics of National Space in Muziki wa injili in Dar es Salaam.” Ethnomusicology 52, no. 1 (2008): 52-84.
33. Sığırcı, İlhami. Göstergebilim Uygulamaları, Metinleri, Görselleri ve Olayları Okuma. Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık, 2016.
34. Skinner, Ryan Thomas. “Cultural Politics in the Post-Colony: Music, Nationalism and Statism in Mali, 1964—75.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 82, no. 4 (2012): 511-534.
35. Slavková, Markéta. “Echoing the Beats of Turbo-Folk: Popular Music and Nationalism in ex-Yugoslavia.” Lidé Města 12, no. 2 (2010): 419-439.
36. Turino, Thomas. “Nationalism and Latin American Music: Selected Case Studies and Theoretical Considerations.” Latin American Music Review 24, no. 2 (2003): 169-209.
37. Uzer, Umut. “Nagorno-Karabakh in Regional and World Politics: A Case Study for Nationalism, Realism and Ethnic Conflict.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 32, no. 2 (2012): 245-252.
38. Vassberg, David E. “Villa-Lobos: Music as a Tool of Nationalism.” Luso-Brazilian Review 6, no. 2 (1969): 55-65.
39. Welt, Cory. “Turkish-Armenian Normalisation and the Karabakh Conflict.” Perceptions: Journal of International Affairs 18, no. 1 (2013): 207-221.