TURKISH PIANIST OF ARMENIAN ORIGIN DENIED ENTRY INTO AZERBAIJAN

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
Dec 27 2006

As a sovereign country, Azerbaijan had the right to bar pianist Burak
Bedikyan, a Turkish national of Armenian origin, from entering the
country. In view of this, the Azerbaijani government does not intend
to issue any statement, the head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
department for press and information policy, Tahir Tagizada, has
told ANS.

Ceyhun Mammadov, adviser at the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey, has
told ANS that they [as heard] should have applied for visas to come
to Azerbaijan, which they did not do. On the other hand, a concert
involving an Armenian is inappropriate in Azerbaijan, which is at war
[with Armenia].

The Turkish TV channel Kanal D reported earlier that a Turkish pianist
of Armenian origin, Burak Bedikyan, who arrived in Baku together
with singer Sertab Erener on 19 December, had been denied entry into
Azerbaijan and sent back home.