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Winter 1996 (4.4) Youth in Search
of the Future Guest Editorial by Elin Suleymanov
In fact, this new generation's perception of who they are and who they should be will shape the future of these countries. They are the ones who are going to bring a very special meaning to the notion of citizenship because they are the ones who are building these new countries. While under Soviet rule, new borders were marked, new states created and some of the previously existing structures replaced. Today, Islam is coming back. Socialism no longer exists, and the social system is confused. Many argue that life is simply returning to normal. So Central Asia and part of the Caucasus which were artificially separated from the Middle East are returning to where they belong, and the Baltic and Western republics are returning to Northern and Eastern Europe. If trade is any indication, Middle Eastern and Asian countries are increasingly dominating the markets of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Simple definitions do not work in regions like this, however. The Azerbaijani people are mostly Muslim. At the same time, we have a Western lifestyle. We dress and behave like Europeans. While interest in Islam has been growing in the newly independent Azerbaijan, almost every young Azerbaijani still wants to study in the West. And the most popular subject in schools is English. In addition, the example set by neighboring Iran is not particularly appealing to most. Searching for one's identity is not an easy task. For instance, many Azerbaijani-language newspapers have headlines in Latin letters and text in Cyrillic. This is because there is not enough capacity to print entire newspapers in the official Latin alphabet, so they have to revert to Cyrillic. In fact, over the last 80 years or so, the Azerbaijani language has changed scripts back and forth three times. Obviously, those advocating the use of different alphabets also have different views on how Azerbaijan should develop. For the younger generation, this means that the writing they learned in school is no longer the preferred script. The content of education is
another big problem facing students in most of the former Soviet
Republics. In 1990, students at Baku State University still had
to pass a test in the history of the USSR. All the books were
very outdated, most of the heroes had turned traitors and vice
versa, but the test was still there and had to be passed. The
solution was easy: lecture time was spent chatting, and the grades
were based on attendance. The most surprising and, perhaps, worrisome development is not that people who have 20 years difference in age don't communicate well, but that people who have three to five years difference do not, either. This is a result of something which could be called "a collapse of time," as the processes which normally take decades to evolve now happen in months. What is unique for this region is that the pace of change has not slackened. Baku is a beautiful southern and historical sea-side town. People there used to go out at night and spend their time drinking tea and visiting neighbors. In 1988, the first refugees appeared in the city, and no one really knew how to deal with the problem. So people ignored it for a while and tried to live as if nothing had happened. Then, by November of that year, the first non-stop demonstrations began in which students were protesting government policies. That was followed by the Soviet soldiers, tanks and curfew. We lived under a curfew for about five years. This is in a town which has never seen the direct effects of war before, not even during World War II. It was a shock then, and remains one now. Baku residents have lived under the psychological pressure of the war with Armenians since 1988. Many younger people have grown up with it. It climaxed in 1990 when the Soviet Army massacred 150 civilians in the streets of Baku. Actually, that black mark in Azerbaijan's history made independence the only possible option for our republic. Amazingly, although most of the people were hesitant to demand independence in 1988, this was not even an issue two years later. This was a dramatic change. I left one of the Soviet Republics in 1989 to study in the capital, Moscow, and in 1992 I was traveling from one independent state to another. Many younger Azerbaijanis have never been Soviet citizens. They were born into a newly independent country, while the older generations have had to change both their citizenship and their ways of thinking. In the past, it was fashionable to send your kids to universities in Moscow; now those who can, send them to the West. I've studied, myself, in both places. We are what I would call a "super-transitional" sub-group of the transitional generation, born roughly between 1966 and 1971 and "stuck" between the old and the new. Arguably, our group is the most active in this search for a new identity. Azerbaijani society is developing under external and internal pressures. Our several years of independence have been years of political turmoil, war and economic decline. Young Azerbaijanis often have had to make very difficult choices- choices which previous generations did not have or could not have made. And the answers for Azerbaijan are not as easy as they might seem to be. Having an independent state means being responsible for it. However, despite how much the youth in Azerbaijan carry the burden for this transition, they are still not adequately represented among decision-makers. These are not unique challenges, but it does not make them any easier to deal with. These are only some of the problems facing young Azerbaijanis, of course. A shifting of values, economic problems, high unemployment and corruption are among the other familiar difficulties. It is, however, very amazing and encouraging how similar young people are all around the world. We truly share much in common. The best way to discover this is by talking and meeting more often. The U.S. Congress, however, has excluded the Azerbaijani government from receiving any foreign assistance, with the exception of humanitarian aid which they began to allow in the fall of 1996. 1 Denying aid was not a well-thought-out decision and has made it difficult for people, especially the youth, to communicate directly with others in the international community. If there is one thing that should not be done, it is this. Communication is the lifeline for our youth. It is fascinating to be participating
in the development of our new country, and to be its future and
hope. At the same time it is a painful experience. I once was
asked whether Azerbaijan was in the Middle East or Europe. Frankly,
even I, trained as a geographer, did not know the answer. It
seems to depend on one's perspective. It also depends on the
choices that the young generation makes, and on whether Europe
and the West are ready to accept such a complex, but potentially
enriching member to its family. Back
to Index AI 4.4 (Winter 1996) |
In the
Far East, wishing someone to live in times of change is actually
a curse. Over the past decade, people in Eastern and Central
Europe and the former Soviet Union have seen more change than
in the preceding 50 years or so.