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Police Question Azerbaijan Citizens Over "Unpatriotic" Song Voting

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  • Police Question Azerbaijan Citizens Over "Unpatriotic" Song Voting

    POLICE QUESTION AZERBAIJAN CITIZENS OVER "UNPATRIOTIC" SONG VOTING

    AllGov
    Wednesday, August 19, 2009

    Inga and Anush, Armenian sisters Citizens in Azerbaijan who voted
    in the Eurovision Song Contest (Europe's version of American Idol,
    only much bigger and much older) for an act from Armenia found
    themselves being interrogated by Azerbaijan's police for being
    disloyal. Approximately 40 Azeris gave their votes to Inga and Anush
    of Armenia, including Rovshan Nasirli, who was summoned to the National
    Security Ministry to explain his unpatriotic behavior.

    "They wanted an explanation for why I voted for Armenia. They
    said it was a matter of national security," Nasirli told Radio Free
    Europe. "They were trying to put psychological pressure on me, saying
    things like, 'You have no sense of ethnic pride. How come you voted
    for Armenia?' They made me write out an explanation, and then they
    let me go."

    Azerbaijan and Armenia have had longstanding disputes over the
    Nagorno-Karabakh region, a predominantly Armenian enclave located
    within Azerbaijani territory.

    The harassment by police wasn't the only controversy that arose
    for Azeris who watched the Eurovision Song Contest, which drew an
    audience of 122 million (compared with American Idol's 29 million in
    the U.S.). Some Azeris were unhappy with their country's entry into
    the contest-the Iranian-born pop star Arash who lives in Sweden, and
    was partnered with a relatively young and unknown Azerbaijani singer,
    AySel. To make matters worse, Aysel and Arash took third place in the
    contest, even though an audit of the voting afterwards revealed they
    finished second in the televoting by fans.
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