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FOREIGN REPORTERS DENIED ENTRY AS TERRITORIAL DISPUTE ESCALATES
http://en.rsf.org/armenia-foreign-reporters-barred-from-06-07-2011,40610.html
July 6, 2011
France
Published on Wednesday 6 July 2011.
Reporters Without Borders is very concerned that both Armenia and
Azerbaijan have been denying entry to foreign journalists amid an
increase in tension between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh,
a disputed territory within Azerbaijan that has a mostly Armenian
population. The media have become a hostage to this conflict.
"We urge the Armenian and Azerbaijan authorities to leave the media
out of their diplomatic dispute," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Journalists must be free to do their work, which involves covering
matters of general interest, including ones as sensitive as the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. They must be able to able to move about without
having to obtain permission from either side. Compiling blacklists
of journalists for exclusion is both unacceptable and ineffective."
In the latest case, Yuri Snegirev, the correspondent of the Russian
daily Izvestiya, was banned from entering Azerbaijan on 1 July as a
result of two articles about Nagorno-Karabakh that were published on
29 and 30 June. The ban was announced by foreign ministry spokesman
Elkhan Polukhov, who accused Snegirev of just reflecting the Armenian
viewpoint. The ministry also complained that he had used the Armenian
names for the cities of Stepanakert and Shushi (Khankendi and Shusha
in Azeri) although they are the names usually used in Russian.
Three days before that, on 28 June, Bloomberg photo-journalist Diana
Markosyan was denied entry to Azerbaijan on landing at Baku airport.
The authorities initially claimed that Bloomberg had changed the
name on its accreditation request at the last moment. But Markosyan
told Reporters Without Borders she had been in regular contact with
Polukhov during the three weeks prior to her arrival and that her
news agency had sent all the requested documents.
Polukhov finally recognised that the reason for the ban was Markosyan's
Armenian-sounding surname although she has US and Russian dual
nationality and had never been to Armenia. "Bloomberg management was
informed that Azerbaijan is at war with Armenia," Polukhov said.
"For this reason, there would be problems providing security for
the Armenian Diana Markosyan. We asked the agency to send another
photographer instead of Markosyan."
"If it was impossible, why didn't the authorities tell me earlier?"
Markosyan told Reporters Without Borders.
Sergei Buntman, the deputy chief editor of the Moscow-based independent
radio station Ekho Moskvy, was banned from visiting Azerbaijan on 23
May. Paralleling his later action with Snegirev, Polukhov announced the
ban the day after Ekho Moskvy broadcast interviews conducted by Buntman
with the leaders of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Like Snegirev, Buntman had also upset the Azerbaijani authorities by
travelling to Nagorno-Karabakh without requesting their permission.
The region is nonetheless a de facto independent state and impartial
coverage of the issue necessitates a visit.
Nagorno-Karabakh is not the only story that has resulted in foreign
journalists being denied entry or deported from Azerbaijan. A TV
crew from Sweden's First National TV was arrested and escorted to the
airport while trying to cover an opposition demonstration on 17 April.
A few days later, a leading New York Times reporter was told he would
not get a visa if did not submit the articles he had written about
Azerbaijan and explain why there was so much "negative information"
about Azerbaijan in the United States. "This is all rather stupid and
ridiculous," the journalist told Reporters Without Borders. "In the
21st century, you can be in Australia and interview someone living in
London, Moscow or Baku (...) All they will achieve this way is that
our stories will not longer include their views or comments because
they refuse to talk to us."
Although apparently a less repressive country, Armenia preceded its
neighbour in barring journalists. A four-member crew that wanted
to film interviews for a documentary that the Lithuanian TV station
Komanda was making about Nagorno-Karabakh was denied entry on arrival
at Yerevan airport on 11 March. They finally left after waiting for
28 hours at the airport.
Several Armenian news media then claimed that the documentary's
producer, Andrius Brokas, was a spy working for Azerbaijan and a
senior Armenian foreign ministry official told the media that "it
is obvious that their aim was to damage Armenia's reputation." In
response to a query from Reporters Without Borders, foreign ministry
adviser Tigran Mkrchyan said in a 22 March letter that the crew was
turned back "for security reasons."
Although inhabited mostly by Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh was
incorporated into Azerbaijan by Stalin. Its declaration of independence
in 1991 triggered a violent armed conflict and an exodus of around a
million refugees. The dispute has been on hold since a 1994 ceasefire
and Nagorno-Karabakh has continued to govern itself during a series of
unsuccessful attempts to reach a solution. The past few months have
seen a series of bellicose statements by Azerbaijan proclaiming its
readiness to recover the lost territory, accompanied by skirmishes
along the border.
Picture : Elkhan Polukhov
From: A. Papazian
http://en.rsf.org/armenia-foreign-reporters-barred-from-06-07-2011,40610.html
July 6, 2011
France
Published on Wednesday 6 July 2011.
Reporters Without Borders is very concerned that both Armenia and
Azerbaijan have been denying entry to foreign journalists amid an
increase in tension between the two countries over Nagorno-Karabakh,
a disputed territory within Azerbaijan that has a mostly Armenian
population. The media have become a hostage to this conflict.
"We urge the Armenian and Azerbaijan authorities to leave the media
out of their diplomatic dispute," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Journalists must be free to do their work, which involves covering
matters of general interest, including ones as sensitive as the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. They must be able to able to move about without
having to obtain permission from either side. Compiling blacklists
of journalists for exclusion is both unacceptable and ineffective."
In the latest case, Yuri Snegirev, the correspondent of the Russian
daily Izvestiya, was banned from entering Azerbaijan on 1 July as a
result of two articles about Nagorno-Karabakh that were published on
29 and 30 June. The ban was announced by foreign ministry spokesman
Elkhan Polukhov, who accused Snegirev of just reflecting the Armenian
viewpoint. The ministry also complained that he had used the Armenian
names for the cities of Stepanakert and Shushi (Khankendi and Shusha
in Azeri) although they are the names usually used in Russian.
Three days before that, on 28 June, Bloomberg photo-journalist Diana
Markosyan was denied entry to Azerbaijan on landing at Baku airport.
The authorities initially claimed that Bloomberg had changed the
name on its accreditation request at the last moment. But Markosyan
told Reporters Without Borders she had been in regular contact with
Polukhov during the three weeks prior to her arrival and that her
news agency had sent all the requested documents.
Polukhov finally recognised that the reason for the ban was Markosyan's
Armenian-sounding surname although she has US and Russian dual
nationality and had never been to Armenia. "Bloomberg management was
informed that Azerbaijan is at war with Armenia," Polukhov said.
"For this reason, there would be problems providing security for
the Armenian Diana Markosyan. We asked the agency to send another
photographer instead of Markosyan."
"If it was impossible, why didn't the authorities tell me earlier?"
Markosyan told Reporters Without Borders.
Sergei Buntman, the deputy chief editor of the Moscow-based independent
radio station Ekho Moskvy, was banned from visiting Azerbaijan on 23
May. Paralleling his later action with Snegirev, Polukhov announced the
ban the day after Ekho Moskvy broadcast interviews conducted by Buntman
with the leaders of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
Like Snegirev, Buntman had also upset the Azerbaijani authorities by
travelling to Nagorno-Karabakh without requesting their permission.
The region is nonetheless a de facto independent state and impartial
coverage of the issue necessitates a visit.
Nagorno-Karabakh is not the only story that has resulted in foreign
journalists being denied entry or deported from Azerbaijan. A TV
crew from Sweden's First National TV was arrested and escorted to the
airport while trying to cover an opposition demonstration on 17 April.
A few days later, a leading New York Times reporter was told he would
not get a visa if did not submit the articles he had written about
Azerbaijan and explain why there was so much "negative information"
about Azerbaijan in the United States. "This is all rather stupid and
ridiculous," the journalist told Reporters Without Borders. "In the
21st century, you can be in Australia and interview someone living in
London, Moscow or Baku (...) All they will achieve this way is that
our stories will not longer include their views or comments because
they refuse to talk to us."
Although apparently a less repressive country, Armenia preceded its
neighbour in barring journalists. A four-member crew that wanted
to film interviews for a documentary that the Lithuanian TV station
Komanda was making about Nagorno-Karabakh was denied entry on arrival
at Yerevan airport on 11 March. They finally left after waiting for
28 hours at the airport.
Several Armenian news media then claimed that the documentary's
producer, Andrius Brokas, was a spy working for Azerbaijan and a
senior Armenian foreign ministry official told the media that "it
is obvious that their aim was to damage Armenia's reputation." In
response to a query from Reporters Without Borders, foreign ministry
adviser Tigran Mkrchyan said in a 22 March letter that the crew was
turned back "for security reasons."
Although inhabited mostly by Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh was
incorporated into Azerbaijan by Stalin. Its declaration of independence
in 1991 triggered a violent armed conflict and an exodus of around a
million refugees. The dispute has been on hold since a 1994 ceasefire
and Nagorno-Karabakh has continued to govern itself during a series of
unsuccessful attempts to reach a solution. The past few months have
seen a series of bellicose statements by Azerbaijan proclaiming its
readiness to recover the lost territory, accompanied by skirmishes
along the border.
Picture : Elkhan Polukhov
From: A. Papazian