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MAKING THE WORLD LAUGH: WHY BAKU'S BLACKLIST IS POINTLESS...
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
August 20, 2013 Tuesday
Washington "has no comment" on Azeri government's newly released
"blacklist" of more than 35 Americans, who are banned from entering
the country because "they had travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh," TURAN's
US correspondent was told by the official sources.
"These individuals, their trips to Nagorno-Karabakh... don't certainly
represent the US government. Our official policy on the issue is clear:
We've urged our citizens to avoid traveling to this region; because of
the existing state of hostilities, we cannot offer consular services
to them on the ground, while such travels without the consent of Azeri
government could make them ineligible to travel to Azerbaijan in the
future", the source mentioned.
In the meantime, the Baku-prepared blacklist "doesn't look serious",
the source added, arguing that it doesn't describe the details of
the trips and why exactly these certain individuals are being targeted.
The published list overall "sounds more political, and doesn't
represent any long-term strategy," according to several Washington
analysts, who mentioned that out of the 335 names on the list, there
are people who have never been to NK.
Most interestingly, some of the blacklisteds' trips to the region
have been apparently sponsored by the Azerbaijani government.
Californian state Senator Democrat Joe Simitian's Baku visit in
December 2011, was billed to Azeri taxpayers - albeit he also extended
his trip on personal time, tacked on a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Most recently, the trip of sixteen students of Johns Hopkins
University's School of Advanced International Studies, who spent
ten days in Baku, Yerevan and part of them in Khankendi, is another
example.
"We went to both Azerbaijan and Armenia to study the Karabakh conflict
and ways to resolve it. The Azerbaijan portion was sponsored by the
Azerbaijani Diplomatic Academy and the Armenian portion was sponsored
by Caucasus Institute. The purpose was to learn about the conflict and
to come up with new ideas to help solve it," Nicholas Wondra, member of
the trip, who was also blacklisted by the Azeri government, told TURAN.
"I have not visited NK, but am somehow guilty by association.... Who
knew that being a political scientist would be so political?" he added.
As TURAN has learned from the informed sources, the students' trip
cost Azeri taxpayers more than $50.000. It includes travel and
accomodation costs.
The Azeri Embassy in Washington DC was unreachable for comment.
Speaking to TURAN, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski, chairman of AZAD, a
Virginia-based nonpartisan organization that advocates for democracy
in Azerbaijan, called Baku's "inviting-blacklisting" policy "not
smart and not serious," adding that it seems rather counted on Aliyev
government's domestic and foreign propaganda than real diplomacy.
"This is another example of how Azeri regime spends millions of dollars
abroad, expecting the foreigners to come to the region and speak out
on behalf of their propaganda... It has nothing to do with Azerbaijan's
problems, especially with solution of the Karabakh problem."
According to the Armenian sources, dozens of thousands of tourists
visited our occupied territories during past few years, while Azeri
Foreign Ministry "blacklisted" only 350 individuals, although some
claim they've never been in NK.
"Seems like the Aliyev regime is up to using Karabakh visit as
another tool for targeting its international critics in future,"
Chakhtakhtinski emphasized.
The fact is that, the world laughed out loud at the Azeri government
because "it does damage only to the Azerbaijan's reputation," said
AZAd Chairman.
In his recent column, Harut Sassounian, the publisher of The California
Courier and the president of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition
of the seven largest Armenian-American organizations, mentioned that
"surprisingly, none of Armenia's leaders appears on Azerbaijan's
"Black list" even though they make no secret of their periodic trips
to the region."
"Could it be that Azeri officials consider Artsakh to be a part of
Armenia, and that's why they do not blacklist Armenian citizens who
go there?" he questions.
Alakbar Raufoglu Washington, DC
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
August 20, 2013 Tuesday
Washington "has no comment" on Azeri government's newly released
"blacklist" of more than 35 Americans, who are banned from entering
the country because "they had travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh," TURAN's
US correspondent was told by the official sources.
"These individuals, their trips to Nagorno-Karabakh... don't certainly
represent the US government. Our official policy on the issue is clear:
We've urged our citizens to avoid traveling to this region; because of
the existing state of hostilities, we cannot offer consular services
to them on the ground, while such travels without the consent of Azeri
government could make them ineligible to travel to Azerbaijan in the
future", the source mentioned.
In the meantime, the Baku-prepared blacklist "doesn't look serious",
the source added, arguing that it doesn't describe the details of
the trips and why exactly these certain individuals are being targeted.
The published list overall "sounds more political, and doesn't
represent any long-term strategy," according to several Washington
analysts, who mentioned that out of the 335 names on the list, there
are people who have never been to NK.
Most interestingly, some of the blacklisteds' trips to the region
have been apparently sponsored by the Azerbaijani government.
Californian state Senator Democrat Joe Simitian's Baku visit in
December 2011, was billed to Azeri taxpayers - albeit he also extended
his trip on personal time, tacked on a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Most recently, the trip of sixteen students of Johns Hopkins
University's School of Advanced International Studies, who spent
ten days in Baku, Yerevan and part of them in Khankendi, is another
example.
"We went to both Azerbaijan and Armenia to study the Karabakh conflict
and ways to resolve it. The Azerbaijan portion was sponsored by the
Azerbaijani Diplomatic Academy and the Armenian portion was sponsored
by Caucasus Institute. The purpose was to learn about the conflict and
to come up with new ideas to help solve it," Nicholas Wondra, member of
the trip, who was also blacklisted by the Azeri government, told TURAN.
"I have not visited NK, but am somehow guilty by association.... Who
knew that being a political scientist would be so political?" he added.
As TURAN has learned from the informed sources, the students' trip
cost Azeri taxpayers more than $50.000. It includes travel and
accomodation costs.
The Azeri Embassy in Washington DC was unreachable for comment.
Speaking to TURAN, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski, chairman of AZAD, a
Virginia-based nonpartisan organization that advocates for democracy
in Azerbaijan, called Baku's "inviting-blacklisting" policy "not
smart and not serious," adding that it seems rather counted on Aliyev
government's domestic and foreign propaganda than real diplomacy.
"This is another example of how Azeri regime spends millions of dollars
abroad, expecting the foreigners to come to the region and speak out
on behalf of their propaganda... It has nothing to do with Azerbaijan's
problems, especially with solution of the Karabakh problem."
According to the Armenian sources, dozens of thousands of tourists
visited our occupied territories during past few years, while Azeri
Foreign Ministry "blacklisted" only 350 individuals, although some
claim they've never been in NK.
"Seems like the Aliyev regime is up to using Karabakh visit as
another tool for targeting its international critics in future,"
Chakhtakhtinski emphasized.
The fact is that, the world laughed out loud at the Azeri government
because "it does damage only to the Azerbaijan's reputation," said
AZAd Chairman.
In his recent column, Harut Sassounian, the publisher of The California
Courier and the president of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition
of the seven largest Armenian-American organizations, mentioned that
"surprisingly, none of Armenia's leaders appears on Azerbaijan's
"Black list" even though they make no secret of their periodic trips
to the region."
"Could it be that Azeri officials consider Artsakh to be a part of
Armenia, and that's why they do not blacklist Armenian citizens who
go there?" he questions.
Alakbar Raufoglu Washington, DC