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NKR FOREIGN MINISTRY REPRESENTATIVE EXPLAINS PROCEDURES OF TOURISTS' AND FOREIGN JOURNALISTS' ENTRY TO NKR
16:10 03/04/2015 >> SOCIETY
We present head of the Information and Public Relations Department
of NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs Armen Sargsyan's Interview to
Panorama.am.
- We often hear about the foreigners' increasing interest for Nagorno
Karabakh Republic and the growing number of the tourists visiting NKR.
Are there any data for 2015?
- The data for the first three months of the year already surpass the
last years' indicators. 906 foreign citizens from 38 various countries
visited the Nagorno Karabakh Republic during January-March of the
current year. In comparison with the previous years, it surpasses
the same period of 2014 with 34 people; January-March, 2013 - with
92 people; and indicators of 2012 - with 360 people. Therefore, the
number of tourists who have visited the NKR in the first three months
of this year is by 40% more than that of the same period of 2012.
The geography of tourists visiting Azerbaijan is interesting, too. In
2012, tourists from 86 various countries visited the NKR, in 2013 -
77 countries and in 2014 - 78 countries.
- Are the Armenian citizens included?
- No. This statistics refers to foreign tourists only. The Armenian
citizens are not included, and they are not counted due to the lack
of passport control operations."
- Reportages about the Artsakh people's life and routine in the
blockade of Azerbaijan can frequently be found in the international
media. Do the foreign journalists frequently visit NKR?
- For the first three months of 2015 41 foreign journalists were
accredited in the NKR MFA Information and Public Relations Department,
while the same period of the last year was marked by only four foreign
journalists' accreditation. This indicates the growing interest for
the region.
- The Azerbaijani side often makes obstacles for the journalists'
work, who objectively cover Karabakh conflict, and declares that
foreign citizens, including journalists, must apply to the Foreign
Ministry of Azerbaijan to get a permission to visit NKR and carry out
their professional duties there. How would you comment on the claim?
- Only the visas issued by the NKR authorities have legal force on
the territory of the NKR. The NKR entrance visas are issued to foreign
citizens only at the NKR Permanent Representation in the Republic of
Armenia or at the Consular Service of the NKR Foreign Ministry. All
the other documents, issued by other countries, have no legal force
on the NKR territory and are not considered.
The same applies for the journalists' accreditation. The permission to
carry out journalistic work on the territory of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic is issued by the NKR MFA Information and Public Relations
Department. Accreditation, granted in other countries, including
Azerbaijan and even Armenia, is not valid on the territory of NKR,
and cannot serve as a guarantee for getting a permission to carry
out professional activities in NKR.
Therefore, the only legal way to be and/or carry out professional
work on NKR territory is getting visas and accreditation cards at
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Then would you describe, please, the procedure of accreditation
of journalists?
- Those journalists, who want to carry out professional activities on
the NKR territory, should submit a letter from the editor-in-chief
of their media organization to the NKR Foreign Minister. The letter
should include the period of stay and purpose of the visit, as well
as information regarding which officials of NKR the journalist intends
to interview.
The journalist needs to get a visa to enter NKR, and accreditation
at NKR MFA Information and Public Relations Department - to carry
out professional activities. Detailed information regarding
the procedure is available at NKR Foreign Ministry website
(http://nkr.am/en/the-procedure-of-accreditation-of-journalists/145/).
- The Azerbaijani side also frequently intimidates foreigners saying
that it is dangerous to be on the territory of NKR, in order to
dissuade them from visiting it. How would you comment on this?
- To put it mildly, those statements are totally untrue. The crime
rate is so low in the NKR that it can compete with the Scandinavian
countries. For the whole post-war period of the NKR there was not
registered a single case involving foreign nationals.
Azerbaijan had better think about the foreigners' security on its own
territory. The state agencies of various countries have more than once
issued statements about the threat of acts of terrorism in Azerbaijan,
recommending their citizens to refrain from visiting that country.
- How do you feel about those tourists who visited NKR and then turned
to Azerbaijan to exclude their names from the 'black list'?
- Quite normal. The NKR does not create such obstacles and therefore it
is their personal concern to ask the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan
to remove their names from its 'black list.' Unlike Azerbaijan,
NKR respects each person's freedom of movement.
http://www.panorama.am/en/interviews/2015/04/03/nkr-armen-sargsyan/
16:10 03/04/2015 >> SOCIETY
We present head of the Information and Public Relations Department
of NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs Armen Sargsyan's Interview to
Panorama.am.
- We often hear about the foreigners' increasing interest for Nagorno
Karabakh Republic and the growing number of the tourists visiting NKR.
Are there any data for 2015?
- The data for the first three months of the year already surpass the
last years' indicators. 906 foreign citizens from 38 various countries
visited the Nagorno Karabakh Republic during January-March of the
current year. In comparison with the previous years, it surpasses
the same period of 2014 with 34 people; January-March, 2013 - with
92 people; and indicators of 2012 - with 360 people. Therefore, the
number of tourists who have visited the NKR in the first three months
of this year is by 40% more than that of the same period of 2012.
The geography of tourists visiting Azerbaijan is interesting, too. In
2012, tourists from 86 various countries visited the NKR, in 2013 -
77 countries and in 2014 - 78 countries.
- Are the Armenian citizens included?
- No. This statistics refers to foreign tourists only. The Armenian
citizens are not included, and they are not counted due to the lack
of passport control operations."
- Reportages about the Artsakh people's life and routine in the
blockade of Azerbaijan can frequently be found in the international
media. Do the foreign journalists frequently visit NKR?
- For the first three months of 2015 41 foreign journalists were
accredited in the NKR MFA Information and Public Relations Department,
while the same period of the last year was marked by only four foreign
journalists' accreditation. This indicates the growing interest for
the region.
- The Azerbaijani side often makes obstacles for the journalists'
work, who objectively cover Karabakh conflict, and declares that
foreign citizens, including journalists, must apply to the Foreign
Ministry of Azerbaijan to get a permission to visit NKR and carry out
their professional duties there. How would you comment on the claim?
- Only the visas issued by the NKR authorities have legal force on
the territory of the NKR. The NKR entrance visas are issued to foreign
citizens only at the NKR Permanent Representation in the Republic of
Armenia or at the Consular Service of the NKR Foreign Ministry. All
the other documents, issued by other countries, have no legal force
on the NKR territory and are not considered.
The same applies for the journalists' accreditation. The permission to
carry out journalistic work on the territory of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic is issued by the NKR MFA Information and Public Relations
Department. Accreditation, granted in other countries, including
Azerbaijan and even Armenia, is not valid on the territory of NKR,
and cannot serve as a guarantee for getting a permission to carry
out professional activities in NKR.
Therefore, the only legal way to be and/or carry out professional
work on NKR territory is getting visas and accreditation cards at
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Then would you describe, please, the procedure of accreditation
of journalists?
- Those journalists, who want to carry out professional activities on
the NKR territory, should submit a letter from the editor-in-chief
of their media organization to the NKR Foreign Minister. The letter
should include the period of stay and purpose of the visit, as well
as information regarding which officials of NKR the journalist intends
to interview.
The journalist needs to get a visa to enter NKR, and accreditation
at NKR MFA Information and Public Relations Department - to carry
out professional activities. Detailed information regarding
the procedure is available at NKR Foreign Ministry website
(http://nkr.am/en/the-procedure-of-accreditation-of-journalists/145/).
- The Azerbaijani side also frequently intimidates foreigners saying
that it is dangerous to be on the territory of NKR, in order to
dissuade them from visiting it. How would you comment on this?
- To put it mildly, those statements are totally untrue. The crime
rate is so low in the NKR that it can compete with the Scandinavian
countries. For the whole post-war period of the NKR there was not
registered a single case involving foreign nationals.
Azerbaijan had better think about the foreigners' security on its own
territory. The state agencies of various countries have more than once
issued statements about the threat of acts of terrorism in Azerbaijan,
recommending their citizens to refrain from visiting that country.
- How do you feel about those tourists who visited NKR and then turned
to Azerbaijan to exclude their names from the 'black list'?
- Quite normal. The NKR does not create such obstacles and therefore it
is their personal concern to ask the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan
to remove their names from its 'black list.' Unlike Azerbaijan,
NKR respects each person's freedom of movement.
http://www.panorama.am/en/interviews/2015/04/03/nkr-armen-sargsyan/