Ramiz Mamedov, the coach of the Kazakh Atyrau team, aired his position about the Armenian forward, Tigran Gharabaghtsyan, who had a contract with the club. “As far as I know, Gharabaghtsyan is no longer a player of Atyrau. But if it is not so, I’m in for a conversation with the club’s management. If I work with Atyrau, there will be no Armenians around”, stated Mamedov.407
Accusations against business entities for parallel business projects with both Armenia and Azerbaijan
This results in exhorting their business partners to cease economic contacts with ethnic Armenians or companies owned by Armenians or with Armenian staff members.
An Iranian company running buses between Tabriz and Yerevan rents an office in Baku International Bus Terminal. “A reader of our information resource was concerned over this fact. As reported by AZE.az, the Iranian company which runs buses between Tabriz and Yerevan rents an office in Baku International Bus Terminal. This information was communicated by our reader, Samira Aliyeva, who had lately arrived from Tabriz. As can be seen from the ticket enclosed, Aram Safar Company provides passenger transportation to Istanbul, Yerevan, Ankara, Syria, Van and Baku. By the way, the capital of Azerbaijan is mentioned last for some reason.408
Azerbaijan demanded explanation from the official Ankara over operating flights between Van and Yerevan. “The opening of this flight does not comply with Turkey’s position on the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands”, stated Ali Ahmedov, Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary of the ruling party Yeni Azerbaijan. <…> As long as Azerbaijani lands are not liberated from the occupation, we don’t want any easing in the relationship between Turkey and Armenia”.409
Organization of armenophobic events involving the residents of the countries where they are held
Habib Abdullayev (Muntazir), an Azerbaijani who lives in Germany, was fined by a court verdict to pay a sum of 900 euros for disparaging comments about the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Habib Abdullayev was detained on June 22, 2010 as he was shouting anti-Armenian slogans during the visit of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Berlin.410
Indiscriminate use of international platforms for armenophobic propaganda
Another anti-Armenian provocation attempt was thwarted at 18th International Book Fair held in Minsk in 2011. Armenia and Azerbaijan presented their stands at the fair; however, the Azerbaijani delegation preferred to cram their stand with anti-Armenian propaganda materials rather than any interesting literature. The Armenian delegation immediately drew the organizers’ attention to this inadmissible fact by noting that Armenia featured at the fair mostly literature on culture, while Azerbaijan presented literature containing unabashed anti-Armenian falsifications and xenophobic propaganda. As a result, the Azerbaijani stand was closed down, and the Azerbaijani delegation was forced to leave the fair and discontinue its participation.411
Zarifa Salahova, owner of the museum and collection of miniature books: In 2004, I visited the United States as a part of an Azerbaijani delegation of art historians and museum workers, <…>. Imagine the situation; when I took the floor, all members of the delegation except Alla Bayramova, director of the Museum of Culture, tried to dissuade me from this undertaking as “we didn’t come for that”. I sharply retorted that I knew better and told the Americans of our pain. Later, we were accommodated in host American families. There again, I spent two and a half hours telling them the story of Karabakh on the very first evening. I gave them printed materials and a CD in English. Every evening, my host family received different guests who listened to my story of the tragedy of Karabakh with interest. I was invited to visit other Americans and I always started my conversation with Karabakh. Once, my hosts asked for my permission to introduce me to an American Armenian whose ancestors had moved to the United States in late 19th century. He told me of Armenia’s difficult situation in late 2004 and considered that if Armenians did not give us back Karabakh, their lot would be even harsher.412
Public scandals and intimidation of representatives of international and foreign organizations and structures
At the international conference “Music for Democracy” held in Baku, an argument erupted between Chingiz Ganizadeh, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, and Volker Beck, a deputy of Germany’s Bundestag. In his address to those attending the conference, the Azerbaijani deputy aired his indignation over the fact that “a person who did not acknowledge the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories was invited to attend the conference Music for Democracy, something that elicits feelings of regret and surprise”.413
After the Rabochaya Gazeta Ukrainian newspaper published in its issue of February 23 an article entitled “Imperishable celebration of loyalty, bravery and fortitude”, the staff of the Azerbaijani Vesti.az information agency started terrorizing the editorial staff of the Rabochaya Gazeta Ukrainian newspaper and the author of the article. The article told the story of Hamayak Arshakovich Safaryan, a panel member of the Kiev War Veteran’s Organization noting that “he was born in the ancient Armenian land of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the village of Kemrakuch of Hadrut region”. The Azerbaijani information agency demanded an acknowledgment stating that Nagorno-Karabakh was an Azerbaijani land. After receiving a polite rebuff, Vesti. az voices its indignation: “That’s it! No apologies, no assurances that tomorrow the newspaper will publish a clarification on this matter in its next issue. <…> How can Tolokin, who lives in the remote city of Kiev, know about Armenian guile and perfidy?”.414
Public scandals and intimidation foreign citizens accompanied by verbal abuse
The Azerbaijani website Vesti.az: The news that the famous Turkish singer Sezen Aksu will sing the song Sari Gelin in Armenian and will include it into her new album, became an unpleasant surprise to me. This is another occasion for Armenians to pass the Azerbaijani song Sari Gelin as an ‘anthem of love’ of the Armenian Ashot and his ‘chick’ Haykanush. I think that you will agree that this occasion is meaningful as it is a Turkish woman who sings this song in Armenian. Although after what happened, I doubt that this singer really has Turkish blood running through her veins.415
Akif Islamzadeh, singer: As far as Sezen Aksu is concerned, I can understand her: she has lost her voice and she needs money. Her hoarse-voiced singing will do for Armenians; for them, she will be like Montserrat Caballe. And my advice to her would be not to politicize this song and pay more attention to her reputation.416
Unsolicited junk mail with armenophobic contents and calls against people who are viewed as holding a pro-Armenian position.
Akif Nagi, the chairman of the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO), addressed a letter to the Pope Benedict XVI in protest against the canonization of the late Pope John Paul II because he did not support the Azerbaijani position in the Karabakh conflict. “During his visit to Yerevan in September 2003, he paid tribute to the tombs of Armenians killed in the Karabakh war” and therefore, may not be canonized.417