The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)
September 4, 2009 Friday
Armenian song strikes sour note in Azerbaijan
By Elshan Mammadaliy, The Institute for War & Peace Reporting
BAKU, Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan _ This country takes the Eurovision Song Contest, an
"American Idol"-like competition, very seriously. In fact, the
government now admits that it may have taken the competition a little
too seriously when it dispatched members of its security services to
interrogate people who voted for the entry from the country’s longtime
enemy, Armenia.
Officials now say that it was "a mistake by one official."
Commentators said the probe humiliated the whole country.
"When I was called to the Ministry of National Security, I thought
they were arresting me for the strong criticism of President Ilham
Aliyev I’d written on Facebook," said Rovshan Nasirli. "I had even
forgotten that I’d voted for Armenia. When they started to interrogate
me about this, I almost burst out laughing." In all, 43 people who
sent text messages voting for the Armenian entry were called to appear
before the security service.
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense for
years. The two countries have never signed a peace treaty to end their
1991 war over Nagorno-Karabakh, although a ceasefire was signed 15
years ago. Armenian troops still occupy portions of western
Azerbaijan.
Nasirli described his interrogation as practically Kafkaesque.
"After they kept me for two hours in an empty room, two men came to
me, saying they worked for the main department of the security
service. One had a list in his hand of all the people who voted for
the Armenian entry, and their addresses. They said that people like me
should be sent to prison. They said, ‘Today you vote for an Armenian,
tomorrow you will go to blow up the metro for them,’" Nasirli said.
The security service has refused to comment on the roundup.
But Novruz Mamedov, head of the international department at the
presidential administration, said the affair was being blown out of
proportion.
"Nothing special happened," he said. "There was no pressure applied to
them. You just have to bear in mind that Azerbaijan is still a very
young state. We have only been independent for 18 years, and not all
our officials have the required experience." Nasirli said he is still
outraged by the incident, "The security service should occupy itself
with more serious issues," he said. "I liked the song, so I sent a
text message. This is not betraying my homeland." But that’s just what
some Azeris accuse him of doing.
"This is immoral," said Akif Nagi, chairman of the organization for
the liberation of Karabak. "There is no place for tolerance in this
question. The position of the security service was correct." But
instead of calling the 43 in for questioning, Nagi said the security
service would have been better off putting them under secret
surveillance.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Elshan Mammadaliyev is a reporter in Azerbaijan who writes for The
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that
trains journalists in areas of conflict. Readers may write to the
author at the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 48 Grays Inn Road,
London WC1X 8LT, U.K.; Web site: For information about
IWPR’s funding, please go to
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