UN refugee body, Azeri rights champion discuss Armenian fugitives

ANS TV, Baku
11 May 04

[Presenter in studio] The fate of Roman Teryan and Artur Apresyan, two
Armenians who have fled from [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan’s
regime and come to Azerbaijan, was discussed today by the UNHCR
[UN High Commissioner for Refugees] representative in Azerbaijan,
Bohdan Nahaylo, and human rights campaigner Arzu Abdullayeva.

After the meeting, Bohdan Nahaylo said that before taking any steps,
the Commissioner has to receive appeals either from the Azerbaijani
government or the persons in question.

[Video of Bohdan Nahaylo, captioned, talking to camera in English with
Azeri voice-over] The document clarifying our position on the issue
was submitted to relevant state bodies last week. No government body
has applied to us yet so that we could start discussions. We are not
the kind of organization which maintains dialogue with the government
by means of the press or any other institution. We are open to direct
dialogue. We are waiting for open dialogue.