AZERBAIJAN BLACKLISTS NYT REPORTER FOR VISITING NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Interfax, Russia
April 10 2015

: BAKU. April 10

A New York Times reporter has been declared persona non grata in
Azerbaijan for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh without the go-ahead from
Azeri authorities, according to the Azeri Foreign Ministry.

“Seth Kugel, who has written an article for the New York Times, has
made an illegal visit to occupied territories of Azerbaijan, thereby
violating the law of the Azerbaijani Republic ‘On the State Frontier.’
This man’s name will be put on the list of personae non gratae,”
ministry spokesman Hikmet Haciyev said in a statement.

Kugel’s article “distorts the objective situation in the occupied
territories” and shows disrespect for the New York Times audience and
for refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, Haciyev said.

“The publication of such an article in the New York Times is
regrettable. The article, sponsored by the Armenian lobby, fails to
mention instances of plundering of Azeri property in the occupied
territories and destruction of items of the cultural legacy of the
Azeri people, including destruction of monuments and Islamic worship
sites,” the spokesman said.

Moreover, the lands that “are under occupation” are “used for the
production and sale of drugs, illegal trade in weapons, and the
training of terrorists,” he said.

Kugel’s article, “A Warm Welcome in the Caucasus Mountains,” appeared
in Wednesday’s issue of the daily. Kugel shared his impressions of a
trip to Nagorno-Karabakh and assessed it from a tourist’s point of
view.