AZERBAIJAN AUTHORITIES INTERROGATE MUSIC FANS IN EUROVISION PROBE
Sean Michaels

guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 18 August 2009 09.50 BST

Forty-three Azerbaijani music fans who voted for neighbouring Armenia
in this year’s Eurovision song contest have been questioned about their
‘ethnic pride’

AySel and Arash perform the Azerbaijan entry for the Eurovision song
contest 2009. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Authorities in Azerbaijan have reportedly brought in dozens of music
fans for interrogation, questioning their patriotism after they voted
for Armenia in this year’s Eurovision song contest.

Azerbaijan’s national security ministry has allegedly spoken to each
of the 43 Azerbaijani who voted for Armenian duo Inga and Anush,
singing Jan Jan, rather than AySel and Arash’s Azerbaijani entry,
Always. Though officials told the BBC that they had "merely invited
[voters] to explain" their votes, one fan described a more robust
interrogation.

"They said it was a matter of national security," Rovshan Nasirli told
Radio Free Europe. "They were trying to put psychological pressure
on me, saying things like, ‘You have no sense of ethnic pride. How
come you voted for Armenia?’"

The 22-year-old said that he voted for the Armenian entry because it
sounded even "more Azeri" that Azerbaijan’s own submission. Always,
which came third, was a duet between Azeribaijan’s AySel and
Iranian/Swedish singer Arash. "I voted for Armenia to protest the
fact that Arash was representing Azerbaijan," Nasirli said.

Relations are tense between Azerbaijan and Armenia due to the ongoing
dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, where the countries fought a war in
the early 90s. The mountainous region, mostly occupied by ethnic
Armenians, is formally under Azerbaijani jurisdiction. Though the
two countries seemed to be approaching consensus in negotiations
earlier this year, this recent Eurovision controversy has helped fan
the flames of resentment.