No Azerbaijani Author Included in 5th Grade Armenian Language Textbook: FIP.am

Social media has seen a flurry of posts from various users claiming that the 5th grade Armenian language textbook includes a story written by an Azerbaijani author.

Following these posts on social networks, the news continued to circulate and appeared in the press, propagated by outlets such as PastInfo, Aysor.am, and others. The Fact-Checking Platform examined the 5th grade Armenian language textbook and clarified that it does not contain any works by an Azerbaijani author. FIP.am also reviewed a video and post published on the Facebook page Zona Positive. The video features a book titled "A Collection of Children's Stories," which purportedly includes a story attributed to an Azerbaijani author by the page.

The page later noted in another post that a story with the same narrative had been included in the textbook for 5th grade "Armenian language" published in 2023; however, the true author of the story is Armenian, named Arthur Manukyan, which contradicts the attribution to an Azerbaijani author. This book was published in 2008 by the Save the Children foundation and was officially endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia at that time.

The stories in this collection were developed by authors from Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, based on Russian-language scenarios, with the adaptations and final versions completed by Bernardine Sargsyan. In a conversation with FIP.am, translator Nune Torosyan explained that within the framework of a grant from Save the Children, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian screenwriters developed a Russian-language script for a children's film, with each screenwriter assigned one thematic segment of the film.

Torosyan notes that later, in collaboration with the Armenian branch of the foundation, it was decided to adapt the script into stories, localizing them to the Armenian context. The translator indicated that the Armenian author Bernardine Sargsyan was responsible for working out the thematic elements of the film's script, aligning them with the Armenian setting and personal names. FIP.am also observed that the characters in the story are children with Armenian names.

It is noteworthy that Torosyan is unaware of who Arthur Manukyan is, as presented in the 5th grade textbook, and why the story is attributed to him. In an interview with Aravot.am, one of the co-authors of the textbook, Doctor of Philology Ashot Galstyan, stated that there are numerous works on various electronic platforms that deserve scrutiny. "This is also a demand of the time and the standards. This textbook is not just a literary textbook, but a textbook for the Armenian language, whose main objectives include the development of the ability to express opinions and positions, as well as the cultivation of linguistic culture," noted the author of the textbook. Essentially, the Facebook page has attributed to an Azerbaijani author a story elaborated and localized by an Armenian author based on the motifs of a children's film script created by Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani screenwriters.