gamavor Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 BULGARIAN JOURNALIST EXPELLED FROM BAKU BECAUSE OF HIS ARMENIAN ORIGIN YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 18. ARMINFO. An unprecedented scandal took place at Baku's Bina airport Wednesday - well-known Bulgarian journalist of Armenian origin Eduard Papazyan was expelled from Azerbaijan just because he is Armenian. Former Bulgarian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Ivanchev says that Papazyan, who is the chief sports editor of the biggest Bulgarian daily "24 Hours," came to Baku to cover the friendly match of the Bulgarian and Azeri national football teams. The Azeri side was previously notified who was coming to cover the match and made no objection. The Bulgarian journalists arrived in Baku with no problems. But the moment the passport control officer saw the "hostile" name in Papazyan's papers he began yelling "Armenian, Armenian!" "Yes I am Armenian but from Plovdiv," said Papazyan but was arrested right away by a huge bodyguard and taken for interrogation the main question being since when he has been a Bulgarian citizen. Papazyan explained that even his grandfather was born in and died for Bulgaria, that he has been representing Bulgarian sports journalism for many years and has had no problems in civilized and even not very much civilized countries. The last remark made "the hosts" very angry. An official representative told Papazyan that he felt sympathy for him but could do nothing (whispering: everything is because of Artsax). After that Papazyan was put onto the same plane and expelled from the country. Now he is in Istanbul waiting for Bulgarian visa while the Bulgarian ambassadors to Baku and Ankara are petitioning for him. Ivanchev says that the incident has received an enormous response in Bulgaria especially among the local Armenian community. 24 Hours quotes Papazyan as saying: "I thought we live in the 21st century rather than the Middle Age. I am proud of my roots and my family and am not going to change my name for some Azerbaijan." Ivanchev wonders what explanations may come from the Azeri authorities. http://www.arminfo.am/ PS: I know personally Edo and wonder how can be so naive and go to Azveristan(without Kalashnikov )! He is a super cool sport journalist for one of the big newspapers in BG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hytga Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 i like the part where the officers screams "Armenian, Armenian". it's just hillarious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamavor Posted November 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Big mistake! "24 Hours" is the most popular newspaper in BG and another friend of mine is Chief Editorial Menager for another big newspaper - "Monitor". PS: "24 Hours" has been bought few years ago by a huge German publisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted November 19, 2004 Report Share Posted November 19, 2004 Papazyan explained that even his grandfather was born in and died for Bulgaria, that he has been representing Bulgarian sports journalism for many years and has had no problems in civilized and even not very much civilized countries. The last remark made "the hosts" very angry. style_images/master/snapback.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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