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As the European Games in Baku neared to their end, yet another display of Armenophobia was noted in Azerbaijan. When the name of the Ukrainian boxer of Armenian origin and the silver-medal winner Gevorg Manukyan was announced during the boxers’ awards ceremony in the European Games in Baku, the spectators started to boo at him, according to a Moderator.az article.

Moderator.az writes that with a gesture, Ilham Aliyev asked the spectators not to boo at the boxer and they started to applaud after that. Referencing the Armenophobic atmosphere reigning in Azerbaijan, the outlet writes, “This case once again showcases the zombification of the Azerbaijani society, how the society in Azerbaijan can become tolerant and aggressive with a single movement of Ilham Aliyev’s hand.”

In an interview to Moderator.az, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party, Sardar Jalaloglu, spoke about the Azerbaijan authorities’ policy in the field of sport. He said Azerbaijan owes to the athletes invited from other countries for the majority of the medals it has. “Despite the enormous sums of money allocated for the development of sport, it does not develop, which means that a wrong policy is conducted in the sphere of sport,” he said.

On 12-28 June, Baku hosted the first European Games under the auspices of the European Olympic Committee. According to media estimates, the Games cost the Azerbaijani population $10 billion. They became a serious headache for the locals with numerous bans and property demolitions. The preparatory works for the Games were accompanied not only by numerous reports about “bugs” and accidents, but also crackdowns and brutal repressions against dissent.

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