Azerbaijan’s National Olympic Committee has raised a complaint and expressed serious concern over the decision by Armenian pair Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin to perform their Olympic figure skating routine to the composition “Artsakh” by Armenian composer Ara Gevorgyan. The committee labeled the music as “separatist,” Minval.az reports.
The letter addressed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) claims that the term “Artsakh” symbolizes “the ideological essence of Armenia’s long-standing illegal and separatist policy toward the internationally recognized territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” It argues that the selection of such music for an international sporting event like the Olympics, an arena expected to remain free of political messaging, carries “obvious political and ideological content” and contradicts Olympic values.
The Akopova-Rakhmanin pair is performing their short program to “Artsakh.”
Previously, Azerbaijan had attempted to attribute Ara Gevorgyan’s “Artsakh” composition to Soviet composer Fikret Amirov. However, in 1998, Gevorgyan officially registered his copyright for the piece with the U.S. Library of Congress. The composer later produced a documentary titled “Story about Artsakh Music,” which details the creation of the piece.
