AZERBAIJAN BLOCKS WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM TRANSFERS
MarketWatch
Aug 1 2008
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AFP) — Azerbaijan has suspended the activities of
money transfer companies Western Union Co. because they operate in
the breakaway region of Nagorno Karabakh, the central bank said Friday.
"Transfers and reception of money under these systems have been
completely suspended in all banks of Azerbaijan," the statement said.
"This is in connection with the possibility of receiving transfers
through Western Union and MoneyGram on the territory of Nagorno
Karabakh."
Azerbaijan strongly opposes companies operating in Nagorno Karabakh.
Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenian forces took control of Nagorno
Karabakh during a war in the early 1990s that killed thousands and
forced nearly a million people on both sides to flee their homes.
A ceasefire was signed between the two former Soviet republics,
Armenia and Azerbaijan, in 1994 but the dispute remains unresolved
after more than a decade of negotiations.