Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

From Territorial To Architectural Claim: Monument In Karabakh Provok

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • From Territorial To Architectural Claim: Monument In Karabakh Provok

    FROM TERRITORIAL TO ARCHITECTURAL CLAIM: MONUMENT IN KARABAKH PROVOKED AZERIS TO SCANDAL IN NEWS FAIR IN IRAN
    By Gayane Lazarian

    ArmeniaNow
    01.11.10 | 16:26

    News

    Armenian journalists who are back from Iran comment on the scandal

    The image of a monument held by many as a symbol of Nagorno-Karabakh
    was at the center of another Armenian-Azeri row during an international
    media fair in Iran, leading to the Armenian delegation's cutting
    their visit short and returning home.

    PanArmenian.Net and Azg (Nation) daily, representing Armenia at the
    International Festival and Fair of Press and News Agencies held in
    Tehran on October 25-31, left the pavilion "when the organizers of
    the fair, succumbing to Azeri journalists' hysteria, did not place
    the photo of the Armenian monument 'We are Our Mountains' (which is
    located at the entrance of Karabakh capital Stepanakert), onto the
    pavilion of Armenia."

    Hasmik Harutyunyan, an Azg daily journalist, told ArmeniaNow that the
    organizers of the festival pasted a country flag, name and image of
    a monument symbolizing this country at each pavilion.

    "The Iranian organizers pasted the photo of 'We are Our Mountains'
    monument in Nagorno-Karabakh, as a result of which Azeri journalists
    raised a clamor, and said that Armenians are presenting 'their
    monument' [meaning Azeri]," Harutyunyan says. "And Turkish journalists
    joined them."

    ('We are Our Mountains' monument, also known as 'Tatik yev Papik'
    (grandmother and grandfather) was built in 1967, by sculptor Sargis
    Baghdasaryan.)

    The incident in Tehran, Iran, attracted the attention of
    representatives of all countries: people started approaching and asking
    what the matter was, besides, they were taking photos with the photo of
    the monument in the background, according to the Armenian participants.

    "By the time we were trying to smooth out the situation and not to
    attach a political context to the non-political event, Suleyman
    Farzaliyev, a journalist from the Azeri APA news agency, simply
    intruded into the Armenian pavilion. He was saying insulting words
    about our country, nation and flag. Tearing out the maps of the
    Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, pasted on
    the wall, he wanted to tear them into pieces. Of course, we managed
    to stop him," Harutyunyan says.

    During the next days of the festival, the organizers did not paste
    the photo of the monument on the wall of the pavilion; however,
    the Armenian delegation representatives say the photo remained in
    the pavilion.

    The Iranian side explained the existence of the photo in the Armenian
    pavilion by the fact that they were not aware of the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict, and they were sure that the 'Tatik yev Papik' was the
    Armenian state national symbol, as the Eiffel Tower was presented in
    the French pavilion.

    The Armenian delegation demanded from the festival organizers to paste
    the photo on the wall of the pavilion the next day, which, however,
    did not happen. Hence, representatives of the Armenian delegation
    decided to disseminate a statement among the participants of the
    fair-festival and leave it three days before its closure.

    The statement reads that "the organizers did not keep their promise
    about re-pasting the monument photo on the panel of the Armenian
    pavilion, that is why the Armenian side did not consider its further
    participation in the event possible."

    Armenians and Azeris participating in international events often
    have arguments over maps and symbols related to Karabakh, which has
    enjoyed de facto independence from Baku since 1991 but has not been
    recognized by the latter as an independent entity.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X