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ANKARA: Azerbaijan Bans 335 Foreign Nationals Over Visits To Nagorno

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  • ANKARA: Azerbaijan Bans 335 Foreign Nationals Over Visits To Nagorno

    AZERBAIJAN BANS 335 FOREIGN NATIONALS OVER VISITS TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    Aug 2 2013

    BAKU - Agence France-Presse

    Azerbaijan on Aug. 2 banned 335 foreign nationals - including
    European lawmakers, journalists and academics - from entering the
    country over visits they allegedly made to the disputed territory
    of Nagorno-Karabakh.

    The Azerbaijani foreign ministry released a list - including several
    deputies from France's National Assembly, a member of the British
    House of Lords and a Spanish opera singer - of people declared personae
    non grata in the oil-rich former Soviet state. All those on the list
    had "broken the law on Azerbaijan's state borders and disrespected
    the national sovereignty and territorial unity of Azerbaijan,"
    the ministry said in a statement. Armenia-backed separatists seized
    Nagorn0-Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war that killed 30,000
    people. Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the
    two sides have still not signed a peace deal.

    Nagorno-Karabakh is still recognised as part of Azerbaijan by the
    United Nations and anyone visiting the territory only accessible by
    road from Armenia risks being blacklisted by Baku.

    Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force
    if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to
    retaliate against any military action.

    Ruled by strongman President Ilham Aliyev, who took over when his
    father Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era boss, died in
    2003, Azerbaijan is gearing up for presidential elections this autumn.

    Human rights activists have accused the government of stepping up a
    campaign to stifle opposition and strangle dissent in the run-up to
    the poll.

    August/02/2013

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/azerbaijan-bans-335-foreign-nationals-over-visits-to-nagorno-karabakh.aspx?pageID=238&nID=51952&NewsCatID=353

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