News.az, Azerbaijan
Feb 13 2010

Azerbaijani journalist `embellishes’ interview with Armenian expert

15:23 / 02/13/2010Armenia and Azerbaijan are faced with a serious
problem of integration of cooperation between civil societies.
Specifically, representatives of many influential international
organizations are actually prohibited from visiting Nagorno-Karabakh,
Coordinator of government regional projects on the South Caucasus
Gervorg Ter-Gabrielyan told NEWS.am.

`It is no secret that the Armenians working at almost all the foreign
embassies in Armenia, as well as for such international organizations
as USAID, UNDP and others, are not free to visit Nagorno-Karabakh.
Such visits are, as a rule, an exception,’ Ter-Gabrielyan said. In
this context he stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh residents’
participation in international events is a serious problem as well:
organizers normally apply to Baku for permission, and requests are of
course rejected.

`Only few organizations, for example, the Caucasian Institute of Mass
Media, were able to get round the problems,’ the expert said. He
stressed that other unrecognized states are facing this problem as
well. As to cases of Armenia’s preventing Azerbaijani civil society
representative from visiting the country, Ter-Gabrielyan said: `I know
that a young independent political analyst from Azerbaijan recently
tried to visit Armenia. He even bought a ticket to Tbilisi, but at the
last moment he returned it, arguing that the Armenian authorities
refused to allow him to visit the country and did not fix an entry
seal to his passport. He had arranged about visiting Armenia without
the seal, but the Armenian authorities changed their mind at the last
moment. Such a seal in the passport of an Azerbaijani citizen can
cause a negative reaction in his country,’ Ter-Gabrielyan said. He
stressed that these measures are actually a response to Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan prohibits Armenians’ from visiting the country, with only
few exceptions. Not only Armenian citizens, but also Armenians from
abroad and foreign citizens that visited Nagorno-Karabakh, with seals
fixed to their passports, are personae non gratae in Azerbaijan. All
this only impedes the development of a peaceful dialogue.

Commenting on his interview with 1news.am, Ter-Gabrielyan stated that
some of his thoughts of taken out of context. `When I said that
Azerbaijan had adopted the right strategy by isolating
Nagorno-Karabakh I meant that Azerbaijan may have adopted the right
policy, isolating Nagorno-Karabakh, if it is seeking a military
settlement of the conflict. Quite another matter is whether Azerbaijan
proves successful. War means disaster for both sides. But I do not
accuse the journalist that did his best and coordinated the general
context of my interview with me. I’ve got used to it. Both Armenia and
Azerbaijani journalists, as well as their colleagues from the other
CIS member-states, are experts at inaccurately conveying shades of
meaning thereby making interview `scandalous’. I think, however, that
a dialogue between civil societies must not turn into `newspaper
warfare’. Secondly, a dialogue is much more important than silence for
fear of saying something `wrong’,’ Ter-Gabrielyan said.

T.P.