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'NON GRATA' FOR BAKU: DANES' VISIT TO KARABAKH OCCASIONS MORE 'BLACKLIST' THREATS FROM AZERBAIJAN
KARABAKH | 12.09.13 | 11:32
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Azerbaijan continues to carry out 'punitive actions' against all
those who dare set foot in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). It
comes down to entering their names in the notorious 'black list'
making their entry into Azerbaijan impossible in the future.
A group of Danish MPs and journalists who were one of the latest
foreigners to pay a visit to Karabakh also face the prospect.
In an interview with Azerbaijan's Turan news agency Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said that official
Baku was examining the information and if confirmed, he said, it
would entail measures in relation to the Danes who visited Karabakh
"without Azerbaijan's permission".
Several members of the Danish Parliament, the country's public figures
and journalists on September 9 met with NKR National Assembly Speaker
Ashot Ghulyan in Stepanakert, then they were also received by the head
of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan.
In late August Baku was similarly angered by a visit to Karabakh by a
Russian delegation of journalists and public figures that also included
former Russian spy Anna Chapman. Azerbaijan described that visit as
"illegal", too, and said the "offenders" also ran the risk of being
"blacklisted".
The Danes and the Russians are not the first to be threatened by
Azerbaijan. On August 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan
revealed a "black list" of 335 people who, it said, visited Karabakh
without Baku's permission and therefore have been declared personas
non grata in Azerbaijan.
The list often referred to as the Montserrat Caballe list (by the
name of the famous Spanish opera singer who visited Karabakh last
summer and was 'blacklisted' in Azerbaijan for that) includes a
number of prominent political and cultural figures, scientists,
entrepreneurs, such as Australian MP, member of the New South Wales
Legislative Assembly Gladys Berejiklian, Russian State Duma member
Oleg Pokholkov, Ukrainian Profile magazine correspondent Varvara
Zhlutenko, The Washington Post Moscow correspondent Will Englund,
Argentinean-Armenian business magnate Eduardo Eurnekian, Austrian
conductor Ernest Hoetzl and many others.
Marcelo Cantelmi, editor-in-chief of International Policy in Clarín,
the largest newspaper in Argentina, visited Karabakh in 2005 and is
now on the Azeri "blacklist", too. After the publication of the list
in its entirely last month, Cantelmi described it as a "barbaric step,
which only deserves to be ignored."
"With such gross and poor methods the Azeris deny the rights
of Armenians towards their historical land," said the Argentine
journalist, also describing it as a manifestation of discrimination
that has historically been used by dictators and tyrants to grossly
violate the principles of pluralism.
Sargis Asatryan, a specialist in Azerbaijan studies, says that
internationally Artsakh's status is not determined yet and is still
at the stage of negotiations, and Azerbaijan has no legal basis
for making such statements, while such behavior only damages Baku's
international image.
"This is not a proper method for solving the issue, especially that
this black list is more frequently 'updated' ahead of important events,
such as the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan," Asatryan
told ArmeniaNow, adding that among those who appear in the list of
"personas non grata" are especially journalists, whose visits to
Azerbaijan are undesirable for the country's authorities.
The website of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that recently a
statement was disseminated at the United Nations in which Stepanakert
expresses its concern about Azerbaijan's threats to citizens of other
countries not to visit Karabakh "without consent of the Azerbaijan
government given in advance" as well as over the publication of the
list of personas non grata by official Baku.
From: A. Papazian
KARABAKH | 12.09.13 | 11:32
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By Gohar Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Azerbaijan continues to carry out 'punitive actions' against all
those who dare set foot in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). It
comes down to entering their names in the notorious 'black list'
making their entry into Azerbaijan impossible in the future.
A group of Danish MPs and journalists who were one of the latest
foreigners to pay a visit to Karabakh also face the prospect.
In an interview with Azerbaijan's Turan news agency Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said that official
Baku was examining the information and if confirmed, he said, it
would entail measures in relation to the Danes who visited Karabakh
"without Azerbaijan's permission".
Several members of the Danish Parliament, the country's public figures
and journalists on September 9 met with NKR National Assembly Speaker
Ashot Ghulyan in Stepanakert, then they were also received by the head
of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan.
In late August Baku was similarly angered by a visit to Karabakh by a
Russian delegation of journalists and public figures that also included
former Russian spy Anna Chapman. Azerbaijan described that visit as
"illegal", too, and said the "offenders" also ran the risk of being
"blacklisted".
The Danes and the Russians are not the first to be threatened by
Azerbaijan. On August 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan
revealed a "black list" of 335 people who, it said, visited Karabakh
without Baku's permission and therefore have been declared personas
non grata in Azerbaijan.
The list often referred to as the Montserrat Caballe list (by the
name of the famous Spanish opera singer who visited Karabakh last
summer and was 'blacklisted' in Azerbaijan for that) includes a
number of prominent political and cultural figures, scientists,
entrepreneurs, such as Australian MP, member of the New South Wales
Legislative Assembly Gladys Berejiklian, Russian State Duma member
Oleg Pokholkov, Ukrainian Profile magazine correspondent Varvara
Zhlutenko, The Washington Post Moscow correspondent Will Englund,
Argentinean-Armenian business magnate Eduardo Eurnekian, Austrian
conductor Ernest Hoetzl and many others.
Marcelo Cantelmi, editor-in-chief of International Policy in Clarín,
the largest newspaper in Argentina, visited Karabakh in 2005 and is
now on the Azeri "blacklist", too. After the publication of the list
in its entirely last month, Cantelmi described it as a "barbaric step,
which only deserves to be ignored."
"With such gross and poor methods the Azeris deny the rights
of Armenians towards their historical land," said the Argentine
journalist, also describing it as a manifestation of discrimination
that has historically been used by dictators and tyrants to grossly
violate the principles of pluralism.
Sargis Asatryan, a specialist in Azerbaijan studies, says that
internationally Artsakh's status is not determined yet and is still
at the stage of negotiations, and Azerbaijan has no legal basis
for making such statements, while such behavior only damages Baku's
international image.
"This is not a proper method for solving the issue, especially that
this black list is more frequently 'updated' ahead of important events,
such as the upcoming presidential elections in Azerbaijan," Asatryan
told ArmeniaNow, adding that among those who appear in the list of
"personas non grata" are especially journalists, whose visits to
Azerbaijan are undesirable for the country's authorities.
The website of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that recently a
statement was disseminated at the United Nations in which Stepanakert
expresses its concern about Azerbaijan's threats to citizens of other
countries not to visit Karabakh "without consent of the Azerbaijan
government given in advance" as well as over the publication of the
list of personas non grata by official Baku.
From: A. Papazian