ARF Bureau member Mourad Papazian

Mourad Papazian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau and a co-chair of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF) was barred from entering Armenia and was declared persona non-grata on Thursday when he arrived on flight from Paris to Yerevan.

In a social media post Papazian explained that upon arriving in Yerevan he was met by Armenian security personnel who escorted him to the departures area and confiscated his passport.

He added that Turkey and Azerbaijan are the only other countries that have barred him from entering their territory.

Papazian blamed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, saying that the incident was yet another proof that he was not fit to lead the country.

“I arrived in Yerevan yesterday, and when I showed my passport, the airport staff took me to a room, saying that there were problems with my passport. Then they sent me to the baggage claim area. Finally after three to four hours, they conveyed the decision that I cannot enter Armenia, that I am a persona non-grata and I will be deported to France on the next flight. I asked what the reason for this action— what was the justification—but they did not give a reason,” Papazian explained in an interview with News.am.

Papazian traveled to Armenia in late May as part of a delegation accompanying Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Hidalgo was scheduled to meet Pashinyan, but the meeting was abruptly canceled.

Papazian told News.am that Pashinyan, most likely, canceled his meeting with the French official because he was part of the delegation. Papazian claimed, however, that he had told Hidalgo and other delegation members that he would not attend the meeting with Pashinyan.

“I told the mayor of Paris and Armenia’s Ambassador to France that I don’t want to be attend the meetings with the government, in order to not disrupt them, because I oppose this government,” Papazian told News.am. “When I found out that Pashinyan canceled the meeting, I was very surprised, because the mayor of Paris supports and advocates for Armenia and Artsakh, and one does not treat their friends like that. Then I found out that Pashinyan punished the mayor of Paris because I was part of the delegation, even though I refused to attend the meeting.”

No official reasoning was given about the decision to ban Papazian’s entry into Armenia.