Our Prime Aim Was To Present Our Country"

[MosJan]

OUR PRIME AIM WAS TO PRESENT OUR COUNTRY"

 

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The Committee of Tourism of the government of Moscow held a tourism expo in Moscow on May 11-13. NKR was represented by the NKR Tourism Development Agency. On May 19 Sergey Shahverdian and Davit Ishkanian, Tourism Development Agency, gave a press conference to provide details on the expo. Sergey Shahverdian said the stand of Nagorno Karabakh Republic, which was considered one of the best, gave information on this country through photos and products made in NKR. On May 13 the NKR representatives made a presentation on Nagorno Karabakh Republic. "The presentation was appointed at 11 in the morning, but several minutes before the presentation a group of Azerbaijanis, apparently students, entered the hall. We asked the security services for help to avoid any incidents. During the opening of the presentation by Albert Andrian, the special representative of NKR to Moscow the Azerbaijanis started an action of protest. Namely, they took off their shirts and stood with t-shirts on with writings against our people’s victory and achievements," said Sergey Shahverdian, adding that this sight confused the participants of the presentation. Despite the protest of the Azerbaijanis, the presentation passed normally and ended with a tasting of Karabakh wines. After the presentation the organizers of the expo gave a diploma to the NKR representation. "The Azerbaijanis, who were trying to prevent our presentation, did not even imagine that their protest would produce the opposite impression, a positive impression on the participants," said Sergey Shahverdian. He says beginning with the first day of the expo the Azerbaijani embassy was making attempts at having the NKR stand closed, but as soon as they failed, they started demanding to replace the sign on the stand "Nagorno Karabakh Republic" with "Nagorno Karabakh." This demand was turned down by the organizers of the expo. Davit Ishkanian said this is the fifth participation of NKR in similar Armenian and international expos: once in Yerevan, three times in Arab and European tourism expos in Beirut. "The NKR government, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Territorial Management and Development of Infrastructures contributed to the participation of NKR in the expo. We are grateful to Karabakh Telecom for financial support, Artsakh Alco and Karabakh Gold for the products to display," said Davit Ishkanian. He thinks that participation in such events is important, for these, first of all, have a political context. Sergey Shahverdian says after the Russian government banned import of Georgian and Moldavian wines, the wine producers of Karabakh have an excellent opportunity of exporting their production to Russia. This circumstance should spur the NKR government agencies and companies to take practical steps. "Unlike product expos, tourism expos are important in the sense that the country is presented. Our prime aim was to acquaint present Karabakh and its political situation to travel agencies and visitors," he said, adding that in Moscow the representatives of Karabakh made arrangements with travel magazines, as well as a Russian TV company and people related with tourism. In answer to the question if the Karabakh issue was discussed by the participants and visitors of this event, Sergey Shahverdian said presently there are a number of people in Russia, who are well aware of what goes on in Karabakh, therefore there is no need for propaganda among these people. "The only problem they are interested in is whether there are skirmishes at the front line of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict. We gave them true information, assuring that there are no skirmishes, and safety of travelers is guaranteed, and tourists can visit and see Karabakh," said S. Shahverdian.

* NVRAD OHANJANIAN