Creating the "Enemy Nation": The Difficult Historical Legacies of Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations

The "four-day war" between Armenia and Azerbaijan in early April 2016 drew the attention of the international community to the mountainous region of Karabakh, the location of one of the so-called "frozen conflicts" in the South Caucasus. During intense fighting, dozens were killed, hundreds were wounded, and many driven from their homes. This military confrontation demonstrated that the ceasefire negotiated more than twenty years earlier between Azerbaijan and Armenia has not worked and has not helped to bring the two alienated neighboring nations any closer to a lasting, peaceful settlement. This article provides an overview of over a century of Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation by analyzing the roots of this difficult relationship and how historical legacies still impact the situation today

Patrimonio architettonico storico nel nuovo contesto politico e sociale

I cambiamenti della situazione politica e sociale nei paesi dell’Europa orientale e dell’ex Unione Sovietica hanno influenzato il loro sviluppo economico e sociale oltre che la cultura, ivi compreso il patrimonio architettonico. L’intenso sviluppo che ha caratterizzato i paesi dell’area post-sovietica e dell’Europa orientale pone questioni di natura economica e sociale. La crescita dell’economia, associata alla transizione verso la proprietà privata, la privatizzazione dei frutti della produzione industriale nonché degli edifici residenziali e di utilizzo collettivo sono tutti fattori che hanno modificato il contesto economico, sociale e giuridico relativo ai beni del patrimonio architettonico. Il boom edilizio registrato in molte capitali delle ex repubbliche sovietiche, in particolare Baku, pone delle minacce alla conservazione delle parti storiche delle città. I nuovi edifici che vengono costruiti in grandi quantità inframmezzati agli edifici storici tradizionali mettono in pericolo numerosi monumenti architettonici. Lo sviluppo moderno esige che oggi, nel XXI secolo, si adottino delle correzioni al concetto di “monumento architettonico”. Alcuni straordinari esempi dell’architettura del periodo socialista sono anch’essi diventati dei monumenti che riflettono la loro epoca e che quindi devono essere tutelati. Secondo le raccomandazioni dell’UNESCO per la salvaguardia degli insiemi storici e del loro ruolo contemporaneo, l’espressione “territorio storico urbano” si riferisce a un insieme di un qualsiasi gruppo di edifici, strutture e spazi aperti, nel proprio contesto naturale ed ecologico, compresi i siti archeologici, che costituisca un insediamento urbano per un periodo di tempo adeguato; la coesione e il valore di tale insediamento sono riconosciuti dal punto di vista archeologico, architettonico, preistorico, storico, scientifico, estetico, socio-culturale ed ecologico. In tale contesto si intende l’architettura contemporanea come un qualcosa che si riferisce a tutti i significativi interventi pianificati e progettati nell’ambiente storico costruito, venendo in tal modo a comprendere spazi aperti, nuove costruzioni, integrazioni o estensioni di siti ed edifici storici e interventi di conversione. Le condizioni del patrimonio architettonico nelle zone teatro di conflitti armati sono un problema particolarmente rilevante. I conflitti armati sono la minaccia più pericolosa per il patrimonio culturale proprio a causa della vasta portata dei danni arrecati ai monumenti. In questo contento vengono analizzati i problemi relativi alla conservazione del patrimonio architettonico nelle città storiche dell’Azerbaigian

METHODS FOR FUZZY DEMAND ASSESSMENT FOR IT SPECIALTIES

The rapid development of information technologies and their penetration into various spheres of human activity cause a sharply increased demand for IT specialists, in many countries of the world far exceeding the supply on them. High rates of technological transformation contribute to the diversification of the IT segment of the labor market, on the one hand, stimulate the disappearance of some and the emergence of new IT specialties, on the other. This creates a discrepancy between the structure of IT-related education and the labor market demand for IT specialists of the required profile and determines the relevance of developing methods for assessing the demand for IT specialties. This article is devoted to the study and solution of the problem of identifying the demand for IT specialties in the absence of accurate and complete information about the situation in the IT market segment. For the assessment of IT specialties and their ranking by the degree of demand in the labor market, the tasks of making individual and group decisions in the context of fuzzy initial information are formulated and solved. The methodological basis of the tasks posed is multi-criteria decision support methods based on fuzzy relations of expert preferences. The proposed approach as a mathematical tool for minimizing the structural imbalance of supply and demand for IT specialties is one of the components of the system of intellectual management of the labor market of IT specialists. The latter is designed to support the adoption of scientifically based management decisions to eliminate the mismatch of supply and demand in the IT segment of the labor market in professional, quantitative and qualitative sections

A four-stage assessment of AUL (Azerbaijan University of Languages) teachers’ abilities to adapt innovative teaching approaches

The purpose of this article is to investigate the best teacher evaluation method that can reveal English language teachers’ abilities to adapt to modern teaching approaches under the conditions of innovative and progressive language teaching trends. It is also extremely important to find out the general problems that prevent some of the teachers from using innovative ELT approaches and techniques. Thus, within the general area of teachers’ assessment, twenty teachers from Azerbaijan University of Languages with the work experience of over fifteen years have been selected for a four-stage evaluation process that consisted of general English language knowledge testing, class management observation, teachers’ self-evaluation, and evaluation of the selected teachers done by their students. The analysis of the completed assessment demonstrates that the best method of teachers’ evaluation is class management observation, since three other assessment methods seem to be subjective and often groundless. When it comes to the problems preventing the use of innovative approaches, the most outstanding reasons are the inability of teachers to use technology, and their unwillingness to adapt to innovations, considering old methods to be the most prominent ones.El objetivo de este artículo es encontrar un método de evaluación del profesorado adecuado que permita identificar las habilidades de los docentes de inglés para adaptarse a enfoques de enseñanza modernos de acuerdo con las tendencias más innovadoras y progresistas de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. También es muy importante conocer los problemas generales que impiden a algunos profesores utilizar enfoques y técnicas innovadoras de enseñanza del inglés. Los datos aquí estudiados se obtuvieron mediante un proceso de evaluación realizado en cuatro fases en la Universidad de Lenguas de Azerbaiyán. Este proceso incluyó la evaluación de conocimientos generales de inglés, la observación de aula, la auto-evaluación y la evaluación de la gestión de las clases por parte del alumnado. El análisis de la evaluación realizada demuestra que el mejor método de evaluación de los profesores es la observación de la clase, ya que los otros tres métodos de la evaluación resultan subjetivos y, con frecuencia, sin base científica. En cuanto a los problemas que previenen el uso de enfoques innovadores, los motivos principales son la incapacidad de los profesores para el uso de la tecnología y su falta de interés para adaptarse a la innovación y el cambio, considerando los métodos tradicionales como los más adecuados

The Oil Boom and Human Capital Development in Azerbaijan: "Turning Black Gold into Human Gold"

This article addresses the link between state fiscal resources and human capital development in Azerbaijan during the peak period of oil prices. The economic growth figures offer quite an optimistic picture. However, a more thorough look at the social and economic data indicates that Azerbaijan’s state investment in education and healthcare was relatively low compared to other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region. Despite the possibilities presented by the expanding fiscal space and increasing capital inflows, the government of Azerbaijan did not manage to effectively increase public sector expenditures on human capital development and has not utilized the available funds to reach higher levels of overall human development

Cross-Cultural Homestay and Challenges to Accept Foreign Settlements in Rural Areas of Japanese Biosphere Reserves; Case of Shiramine Village in Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve

We have conducted the Winter and Summer Homestay activities for foreign students inside the rural areas of Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve, to evaluate how well local villagers were ready to accept foreigners in their communities. We found a big issue, as no locals were willing to accept students for long homestay. Among the tentative list of 15, only 6 host houses with 18 family members agreed to accept students. We have found that before the homestay activities all villagers were very concerned about the foreigners’ behavior and felt very alerted, but after the homestay program, most of them replied (86%) that they were less concerned, and homestay helped them to raise awareness towards foreigners’ behaviors. We have found that villagers are afraid of foreigners’ behavior more and because for many years the region was isolated from foreigners’ influx, some non-verbal communication can be mistakenly interpreted like “inappropriate” or “rude” actions. This kind of homestay program, was conducted for the first time in the rural area of Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve, and we found that real-life experience with foreigners as homestay programs reduced the sense of alertness and raise the awareness towards the foreigners’ behavior

A four-stage assessment of AUL (Azerbaijan University of Languages) teachers’ abilities to adapt innovative teaching approaches

The purpose of this article is to investigate the best teacher evaluation method that can reveal English language teachers’ abilities to adapt to modern teaching approaches under the conditions of innovative and progressive language teaching trends. It is also extremely important to find out the general problems that prevent some of the teachers from using innovative ELT approaches and techniques. Thus, within the general area of teachers’ assessment, twenty teachers from Azerbaijan University of Languages with the work experience of over fifteen years have been selected for a four-stage evaluation process that consisted of general English language knowledge testing, class management observation, teachers’ self-evaluation, and evaluation of the selected teachers done by their students. The analysis of the completed assessment demonstrates that the best method of teachers’ evaluation is class management observation, since three other assessment methods seem to be subjective and often groundless. When it comes to the problems preventing the use of innovative approaches, the most outstanding reasons are the inability of teachers to use technology, and their unwillingness to adapt to innovations, considering old methods to be the most prominent ones.El objetivo de este artículo es encontrar un método de evaluación del profesorado adecuado que permita identificar las habilidades de los docentes de inglés para adaptarse a enfoques de enseñanza modernos de acuerdo con las tendencias más innovadoras y progresistas de la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. También es muy importante conocer los problemas generales que impiden a algunos profesores utilizar enfoques y técnicas innovadoras de enseñanza del inglés. Los datos aquí estudiados se obtuvieron mediante un proceso de evaluación realizado en cuatro fases en la Universidad de Lenguas de Azerbaiyán. Este proceso incluyó la evaluación de conocimientos generales de inglés, la observación de aula, la auto-evaluación y la evaluación de la gestión de las clases por parte del alumnado. El análisis de la evaluación realizada demuestra que el mejor método de evaluación de los profesores es la observación de la clase, ya que los otros tres métodos de la evaluación resultan subjetivos y, con frecuencia, sin base científica. En cuanto a los problemas que previenen el uso de enfoques innovadores, los motivos principales son la incapacidad de los profesores para el uso de la tecnología y su falta de interés para adaptarse a la innovación y el cambio, considerando los métodos tradicionales como los más adecuados

Історія ткацтва в Азербайджані

One of the interesting part of craftsmanship is weaving and its’ history is very ancient. The article was dedicated to history of weaving in Azerbaijan. Archaeological materials which concern to weaving were unearthed during the excavations last decade are very significant for the history of craftsmanship. From Neolothic to Medieval period weaving had been developed and catched its’ industrial high. Archaeological materials give us an opportunity to describe a life of weavers in ancient times in Azerbaijan. According to weaving, abundance of raw material reserves in Azerbaijan territories have rich development since ancient times.First of all, there are included wild technical plants as well as lagh, linen, hemp mallow, nettle and etc. Along with this, development of cattle-breeding especially weaving and existence of main raw material reserves,wool should be emphasized. According to researches, early step of weaving was connected with simple technical habits in weaving field. Archaeologists suppose that bone tools with sharp edge which were found at “Firuz” camp in Qobustan of the Mesolithic period are related to elementary weaving. So that, actually we can’t deny the fact of appearance of initial habits in weaving field before the Neolithic period.Afterwards, habits obtained in weaving stimulated formation of weaving in the Neolithic period.In the Neolithic period and in the Eneolithic period that had replaced it, weaving became one of the significant fields for home craftsmen. As is known, at that time fields as home craftsmen’s stoneprocessing, boneprocessing, ceramics production, leather and peltprocessing, metalprocessing were spread widely. Actually, development of weaving was closely connected with most of above said fields of craftsmanship.There was defined existance of traces of mattings made from clay and reed at Kultepe I near to Nakhchivan city and Alikomektepesi monument in Mugan. There are remains of textile and matting on sceletons and on surface of clay pots in opened ground graves. In addition, there are found remains of mattings on clay floors of buildings of Alikomektepesi settlement.Одна из интересных частей мастерства – ткачество, его история очень древняя. Статья была посвящена истории ткачества в Азербайджане. Археологические материалы, относящиеся к ткачеству, были обнаружены во время раскопок последнего десятилетия, и имеют большое значение для истории ремесленничества. От неолотики до Средневековья ткачество было развито и достигло своего промышленного пика. Археологические материалы дают нам возможность описать быт ткачей в древние времена в Азербайджане. Согласно ткацкому делу, богатые запасы сырья на территориях Азербайджана имеют богатое развитие с древних времен. В первую очередь это дикорастущие технические растения, а также лаг, лен, мальва конопля, крапива и др. Наряду с этим следует отметить развитие животноводства, особенно ткачества, и наличие основных запасов сырья – шерсти. Согласно исследованиям, ранний этап ткачества был связан с простыми техническими навыками в области ткачества. Археологи предполагают, что костяные орудия с острой кромкой, найденные в лагере «Фируз» в Гобустане периода мезолита, связаны с элементарным плетением. Таким образом, фактически мы не можем отрицать факт появления первоначальных навыков в области ткачества еще до неолита. Впоследствии навыки ткачества стимулировали формирование ткачества в период неолита. В период неолита и пришедший на его смену период энеолита ткачество стало одним из важных направлений деятельности домашних мастеров. Как известно, в то время широкое распространение получили такие направления, как обработка камня домашними мастерами, обработка кости, производство керамики, обработка кожи и шкур, обработка металлов. Собственно, развитие ткачества было тесно связано с большинством вышеперечисленных областей мастерства. Установлено наличие следов свай из глины и тростника на Култепе I недалеко от города Нахчыван и памятника Аликомектепеси в Мугане. На скелетах и на поверхности глиняных горшков в вскрытых грунтовых могилах остатки ткани и циновки. Кроме того, на глиняных полах домов поселка Аликомектепеси обнаружены остатки матов.Однією з цікавих частин майстерності є ткацтво, і його історія дуже давня. Стаття була присвячена історії ткацтва в Азербайджані. Археологічні матеріали, що стосуються ткацтва, були знайдені під час розкопок минулого десятиліття, є дуже значущими для історії ремісництва. Від неолотичного до середньовічного періоду ткацтво було розвинене і досягло його промислового максимуму. Археологічні матеріали дають нам можливість описати життя ткачів у давні часи в Азербайджані. За даними ткацтва, велика кількість запасів сировини на азербайджанських територіях має багатий розвиток з найдавніших часів. Перш за все, сюди входять дикорослі технічні рослини, а також ягня, полотно, конопляна мальва, кропива та ін. Поряд з цим слід наголосити на розвитку тваринництва, особливо ткацтва та існування основних запасів сировини, вовни. Згідно з дослідженнями, ранній крок ткацтва був пов’язаний з простими технічними звичками в галузі ткацтва. Археологи припускають, що кістяні знаряддя з гострим краєм, знайдені в таборі «Фіруз» у Кубустані періоду мезоліту, пов’язані з елементарним ткацтвом. Отже, насправді ми не можемо заперечувати факт появи початкових звичок у ткацькому полі до періоду неоліту. Згодом звички, отримані в ткацтві, стимулювали формування ткацтва в період неоліту. У період неоліту та в енеоліт, який його замінив, ткацтво стало одним із важливих напрямків для домашніх майстрів. Як відомо, у той час були широко розповсюджені такі галузі, як обробка каменю домашніми майстрами, обробка кісток, виробництво кераміки, обробка шкіри та шкур, обробка металу. Власне, розвиток ткацтва був тісно пов’язаний з більшістю згаданих вище галузей ремісництва. Виявлено наявність слідів зв’язок із глини та очерету в Культепе I поблизу міста Нахчиван та пам’ятника Алікомектепесі в Мугані. На скелетах та на поверхні глиняних горщиків у розкритих ґрунтових могилах є залишки текстилю та рогожки. Крім того, на глиняних підлогах будівель поселення Алікомектепесі знайдені залишки матов