THE ATTITUDE OF AZERBAIJANI PEOPLE IN GEORGIA TOWARDS THE LOCAL ARMENIAN POPULATION

Abstract

This study examines the complex dynamics of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations within Georgia's multiethnic landscape, focusing on the attitudes of ethnic Azerbaijanis toward the local Armenian population. While historical coexistence between these two largest minority groups has been characterized by pragmatic cooperation, functional bilingualism, and shared municipal institutions—particularly in mixed villages such as Tsopi and Khojorni—interethnic relations have become increasingly strained due to external political influences and regional conflicts. The research traces the evolution of these relations from predominantly neutral and cooperative patterns to heightened polarization, particularly following the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. Key findings reveal that Azerbaijani state-sponsored propaganda, including hostile publications distributed through Georgian libraries, pseudo-scholarly revisionist materials, and coordinated disinformation campaigns on social media platforms, has significantly influenced the attitudes of Georgia's Azerbaijani minority. The study demonstrates how nationalist narratives from external kin-states can penetrate local communities through digital communication channels, educational materials, and cultural programming, transforming latent tensions into visible social polarization. Documented incidents of violence, alongside systematic hate speech on Telegram channels and the political instrumentalization of ethnic minorities in electoral processes, illustrate the fragility of interethnic harmony in the absence of robust institutional safeguards. The research concludes that while everyday coexistence remains resilient at the micro-level, the sustainability of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in Georgia depends critically on effective conflictprevention measures, media literacy initiatives, and proactive civil-society engagement to counteract the erosive effects of cross-border nationalist mobilization.