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Azeri Video Game Promotes Killing of Armenians

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  • Azeri Video Game Promotes Killing of Armenians

    Azeri Video Game Promotes Killing of Armenians

    asbarez
    Thursday, August 23rd, 2012


    In the video game `Ä°Å?gal Altında: Å?uÅ?a' (Under Occupation: Shusha) a
    player fights as an Azerbaijani soldier. (Screen grab from official
    game trailer)

    Video Game Revisits Nagorno-Karabakh War

    BY NINO GOJIASHVILI
    >From Eurasianet.org

    The first-person-shooter video game `Ä°Å?gal Altında: Å?uÅ?a' (Under
    Occupation: Shusha) was developed by 19-year-old student Farid
    Hagverdiev. The game, in which the shooter must free the town of
    Shusha from Armenian and Nagorno Karabakhi forces, is being promoted
    by the Azerbaijani government.

    Just over 20 years ago, during the spring of 1992, Armenian forces
    captured the city of Shushi in Nagorno-Karabakh, marking the turning
    point in the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control
    of the territory.

    Today, youngsters in Azerbaijan have the opportunity to alter history
    via a video game called `Under Occupation.' The objective is to
    recapture Shushi from Armenian forces. Gamers assume the role of an
    Azerbaijani soldier who engages in virtual firefights with Armenian
    soldiers in house-to-house combat. The game is the brainchild of Farid
    Hagverdiev, a 19-year-old student at Baku's State Oil Academy.

    Hagverdiev based Under Occupation on popular first-person,
    shoot-`em-up games, such as Call of Duty and Counter-Strike. Working
    with a team of developers recruited from among his classmates at the
    oil academy, he said the game took two years to go from rough concept
    to finished product. Hagverdiev added that the development team relied
    on self-financing (with generous parental subsidies), used home
    computers, and relied on a trial-and-error creative process. It is
    reportedly the first video game developed solely by Azerbaijani
    citizens.

    Hagverdiev acknowledged that the motivation for developing the game
    went beyond a simple desire to entertain. There was also a political
    element to the project. `By creating the game we wanted to support the
    patriotic spirit in our youth, which I hope we accomplished
    successfully,' he told EurasiaNet.org. The game, which can be
    downloaded for free, has gotten a successful reception from
    Azerbaijani gamers.

    While the video game may have been an independent initiative,
    government officials have latched onto it, viewing it as a means of
    raising awareness about the Nagorno-Karabakh issue among Azerbaijani
    young people, and of mobilizing support for ongoing governmental
    efforts to recover the territory.

    In a sign that the game enjoys the full approval of President Ilham
    Aliyev's administration, the Ministry of Youth and Sports organized a
    formal presentation of Under Occupation. The event, which occurred
    earlier this summer, was held at the Hyatt Regency, one of Baku's
    swankiest hotels.

    Talks on a political settlement for Nagorno-Karabakh have long been
    stalemated. In recent years, Azerbaijani rhetoric concerning the
    territory has grown increasingly bellicose. The video game dovetails
    with the government's effort to keep the patriotic mood at a slow
    boil.

    Under Occupation is not for the faint of heart: there's lots of
    killing and computer-generated gore. To a great extent, it's a
    celebration of violence: to advance, players must handle a variety of
    tasks, including shooting lots of Armenian enemies, rescuing a wounded
    Azerbaijani soldier, retrieving a document and blowing up a building
    in the town of Shushi.

    The game's scenery closely resembles to Shushi's actual appearance.
    Prominent landmarks, including the House of Culture, the Govhar Agha
    Mosque, Vafig Mausoleum and the city gate, all make an appearance.
    Although born after the city's capture by Armenian troops, and the
    subsequent expulsion of Azerbaijani residents, Hagverdiev managed to
    recreate the city by relying on old photographs.

    Whether or not the video game can have a tangible effect on the
    Karabakh peace process is the subject of debate. Some experts doubt
    that a video game can cause a substantive spike in aggressive
    sentiment in Azerbaijan. `Not enough research is available to suggest
    that shooter games promote any more active hostility than the current
    events themselves,' said Tom Parker, a former policy director at
    Amnesty International.

    Hagverdiev and his fellow developers, meanwhile, are now contemplating
    a new game-related venture, one that would aim to make them some
    money. `We're graduating college soon, and we do not wish to mooch off
    our parents forever,' he said.

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