23 May 2011, 22:50
"Echo Moskvy" journalist denied entry to Azerbaijan for his trip to Nagorno-Karabakh
As reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan, Sergey Buntman, deputy editor-in-chief of the "Echo Moskvy" radio station, was put on the list of persons, whose visit to the country is highly undesirable.
This decision is applied to all the foreigners, who visit Nagorno-Karabakh, which is viewed by Azerbaijan as its occupied territory, without Baku's notice.
The MFA's statement also notes that Buntman not only visited Nagorno-Karabakh, but also made a "provocative interview" with the authorities there, the "Interfax" reports.
Buntman learnt about the ban on his entry to Azerbaijan from his colleagues; he knows the reasons. "It's because we were in Karabakh; and I interviewed President of Karabakh Saakyan," he explained and added that he was in Yerevan, planning to return to Moscow, the "Gazeta.Ru" writes.
Alexei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of the "Echo Moskvy", has already announced his intention to write a letter to President of Azerbaijan about the ban to Buntman to enter the country. "I'm going to address President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev and ask him to correct his overly zealous MFA officials. Russian journalists have travelled and will travel wherever they find it necessary, without informing those, whom they don't consider worth informing," said Venediktov.
He emphasized that journalists of his radio station work for their listeners and talk about what's happening in the world, there, where it is interesting to the audience. "I think that Aliev will not allow his subordinates to turn the story into a conflict between the leaders of Azerbaijan and the radio station," said Venediktov on air of the radio.
