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RUSSIAN ARMENIAN KICKED OFF BAKU FLIGHT
by Nathan Toohey
Tne Moscow News
Oct 31 2011
A Russian citizen with a Armenian last name said he was prevented
from boarding an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to Baku.
Sergei Gyurdzhyan, wrote in his blog that the airline's staff told
him that "there were instructions from management - passengers with
Armenian surnames are not to be registered."
Gyurdzhyan, head of export sales of AvtoVAZ, was due to fly from Moscow
to Baku on Oct. 27 to open a Lada showroom. Gyurdzhyan presented a
Russian passport and explained that he was born and lived most of
his life in Moscow -- to no avail, Kommersant reported on Monday.
His traveling companion, Dmitry Shumakher, a subsidiary directors at
AvtoVAZ Lada International, was also prevented from boarding after
complaining of racial discrimination towards Gyurdzhyan.
Presidential aide outraged
The online scandal surrounding the incident quickly grew. Gyurdzhyan's
blog received thousands of comments with presidential aide Arkady
Dvorkovich weighing in, commenting on twitter that the situation was
"an outrage."
The paper reported that human rights organizations said that the
incident was not an exceptional event but was becoming a trend.
"There have been incidents in airports, cases when a person with an
Armenian surname and a Russian passport were removed in the middle of
the night from trains traveling from Makhachkala to Baku," Kommersant
quoted Alexander Verkhovsky, head of the Sova anti-extremism center,
as saying.
"I don't think that there is an official ban on Russian Armenians,
but it is taking place."
Previous events
Kommersant cited several other incidents. In 2010, Azeri boarder
guards stopped an Aeroflot flight attendant with an Armenian surname
from entering Baku after arriving on a Moscow-Baku flight.
In May the newspaper wrote that Russian citizen Yury Manasyan was
prevented from boarding a Azerbaijan Airlines flight to Dubai that
was transferring through Baku.
The airline refused to comment for the article, but the paper said
thatAzerbaijan Airlinet had previously said that it had the right to
deny any passenger from flying without explanation.
http://themoscownews.com/business/20111031/189166050.html
From: Baghdasarian
by Nathan Toohey
Tne Moscow News
Oct 31 2011
A Russian citizen with a Armenian last name said he was prevented
from boarding an Azerbaijan Airlines flight to Baku.
Sergei Gyurdzhyan, wrote in his blog that the airline's staff told
him that "there were instructions from management - passengers with
Armenian surnames are not to be registered."
Gyurdzhyan, head of export sales of AvtoVAZ, was due to fly from Moscow
to Baku on Oct. 27 to open a Lada showroom. Gyurdzhyan presented a
Russian passport and explained that he was born and lived most of
his life in Moscow -- to no avail, Kommersant reported on Monday.
His traveling companion, Dmitry Shumakher, a subsidiary directors at
AvtoVAZ Lada International, was also prevented from boarding after
complaining of racial discrimination towards Gyurdzhyan.
Presidential aide outraged
The online scandal surrounding the incident quickly grew. Gyurdzhyan's
blog received thousands of comments with presidential aide Arkady
Dvorkovich weighing in, commenting on twitter that the situation was
"an outrage."
The paper reported that human rights organizations said that the
incident was not an exceptional event but was becoming a trend.
"There have been incidents in airports, cases when a person with an
Armenian surname and a Russian passport were removed in the middle of
the night from trains traveling from Makhachkala to Baku," Kommersant
quoted Alexander Verkhovsky, head of the Sova anti-extremism center,
as saying.
"I don't think that there is an official ban on Russian Armenians,
but it is taking place."
Previous events
Kommersant cited several other incidents. In 2010, Azeri boarder
guards stopped an Aeroflot flight attendant with an Armenian surname
from entering Baku after arriving on a Moscow-Baku flight.
In May the newspaper wrote that Russian citizen Yury Manasyan was
prevented from boarding a Azerbaijan Airlines flight to Dubai that
was transferring through Baku.
The airline refused to comment for the article, but the paper said
thatAzerbaijan Airlinet had previously said that it had the right to
deny any passenger from flying without explanation.
http://themoscownews.com/business/20111031/189166050.html
From: Baghdasarian