... it will be worse.
Actually, it's hard to say when the "before" benchmark should be fixed.
One thing is for sure: the permanent, growing use of hate speech as the standard political communication in South Caucasus.
In Georgia President Saakashvili, according to Civil.ge, after attending Orthodox Easter service in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi on Sunday said that "Evil force", which occupies parts of Georgia where "our churches are trampled down", will "retreat and definitely be defeated", and that occupation of 20% of [Georgia's] territory by the enemy" [is]"of course a temporary situation". He said that the Easter was symbolizing victory of good over evil and this holiday was fitting well to "the optimistic nature of the Georgian nation."
Was it necessary and appropriate to comment in such a way Orthodox Easter?
It should be recalled that there are specific provisions in UN Resolutions about Georgia/Abkhazia/South Ossetia which address the use of militant rhetoric: Resolution 1666/2006, point 6; Resolution 1582/2005, point 8; Resolution 1554/2004 point 7, which clearly states, to quote one example: "[...] publicly dissociate themselves from all militant rhetoric and demonstration of support for military options".
Georgian President Saakashvili is not an exception in South Caucasus. And the results of the systematic use of hate speech is visible. You don't have to wait for a war to appreciate its fruits. Not even for a slightest threat of national security, to be more exact.
Take the case of the Azerbaijani Film Festival in Gyumri, Armenia.
In the days when Yerevan is promoting the program of the National cinema center of Armenia in Cannes, this is what happened with the film Azerbaijani Film Festival, organized by the Armenia-based Caucasus Center for Peace-Making Initiatives and supported by the U.S. and UK embassies:
«STOP» Azerbaijani Film Festival in Armenia has been blocked as a result of a terror and blackmailing carried out by pressure groups that try to disguise their actions by an alleged "wave of public outrage." The organizers and potential viewers of the festival receive threats of physical revenge through the internet and phone. Those who threaten disseminate information about planned actions of vandalism and terror to take place during the festival. At the same time the festival is blocked by blackmailing and putting pressure on the owners of the premises rented by our organization. In all these cases people are so scared that they refuse to provide any information about the blackmailers.Several mass media outlets and individuals are involved in this anti-festival campaign. They actively disseminate false information and libel about the activities of the Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives (CCPMI). The pressure on people related to CCPMI increases every day. (http://southcaucasus.com/old/index.php?page=current&id=2544)
The title of the Armenian movie to be presented in Cannes is: “Your grief is mine”
Hate Speech is the grief of whoever has to deal with South Caucasus.
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