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Armenia-Azerbaijan: crossing to `the other side' in times of ceasefi

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  • Armenia-Azerbaijan: crossing to `the other side' in times of ceasefi

    Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Italy
    31 january 2013

    Armenia-Azerbaijan: crossing to `the other side' in times of ceasefire

    Arzu Geybullayeva | Baku


    Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a bitter conflict. Dialogue between the
    sides is difficult, but some visits across the border are still
    happening. The story of an Azerbaijani journalist in Armenia

    The bitter conflict over Nagorno Karabakh territory ended in 1994 with
    a ceasefire signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the war
    never really did end. To this day, there are shootings on the front
    line, reports of soldiers wounded or killed in combat make it to the
    news headlines, ceasefire violations are a popular topic of discussion
    in local media. There is no sign of an actual peaceful agreement that
    would sooth the wounds of the two sides. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan
    are at each others throats over the final status of Nagorno Karabakh,
    the fate of the residents and the status of the seven adjacent
    territories occupied by Armenian military forces since 1994.

    The war, however, didn't cut relations all together. Occasional visits
    from the two sides continue, with journalists being among the first
    ones to travel to `the other side'. Among these few pioneers was
    Shahin Rzayev, a journalist by profession, and the Country Director of
    the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Azerbaijan today. He
    shared with me his memories of his first visit to Armenia and his
    thoughts on the present day politics evolving around the conflict.

    First visit, October 1997
    It was October 1997 when Shahin Rzayev visited Armenia for the first
    time. Within the project framework organized by Swiss CIMERA, Rzayev
    headed a group of four other journalists all from different
    Azerbaijani media outlets. They decided to inform Azerbaijani
    government of the upcoming trip, and put together a letter explaining
    the nature of their journey, the names of the participants, scheduled
    meetings and so on, to the authorities. The letter was sent to the
    Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the advisor on international matters,
    then Vafa Guluzade.

    For a week, there was no response. `After a week we called, asked
    whether our letter reached the Ministry. They told us it did, but
    nothing more. And so we decided to go.'

    Rzayev recalls the attention they received during their visit. The
    group was invited to a meeting with the Prime Minister of Armenia,
    Robert Kocharyan. Armenian media covered it all, and the trip
    resonated in the media coverage at home too.

    A friendly tea date
    After the group returned to Azerbaijan, Rzayev, received a phone call.
    The person on the other end of the line introduced himself as an
    employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He asked for a meeting.
    `We met at a tea house. I told him that we had no intention of keeping
    secrets from our government and, in detail, I told him everything
    about our trip. He asked for the video footage. I talked to the guys
    at the Azerbaijan News Service (local news channel), and they prepared
    a copy of all our raw footage. After that, no one bothered us'.

    Every now and then, the journalists would be invited for tea by the
    folks everyone assumed were from the Ministry, no one asked for their
    ID.

    After the initial trip in 1997, Rzayev visited Armenia six more times,
    and once Nagorno Karabakh. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
    informed prior to each trip. A fax was sent, this time directly to the
    Ministry's press department, informing the Ministry of the conference,
    participant lists and etc.

    Other things changed. `During our first trips, our work schedule was
    much more open. We could freely plan our meetings, walk around Yerevan
    accompanied by our colleagues, and without any security.' Perhaps the
    course of events back in Azerbaijan was what changed the frequency and
    the attitude towards visits to Armenia. After 2003-2004, obtaining
    permissions to travel became harder; every single move was to be
    agreed in advance, security personnel followed you everywhere (if not
    to the toilets too). All of this gradually turned to be irritating,
    recalls Rzayev.

    Fading interest
    `During the first visits, until 2000, it was all very interesting.
    Back then, these kinds of trips were uncommon. They also took some
    courage. Later, many NGO representatives as well as journalists
    started traveling to Armenia. By that time, I started accepting
    invitations to only those events that I found interesting.'

    His last visit to Armenia was in 2007, when Rzayev attended a meeting
    organized by the British Embassy. Unfortunately, Rzayev says, no such
    events are organized anymore. And so the interest has also faded.

    But it is not only Rzayev who lost interest. `After initial visits, we
    were invited to TV channels, we were interviewed. Surely there were
    antagonists too towards such trips. Overall, however, the attitude was
    positive. I recall even the President Haydar Aliyev saying he
    applauded such visits and he himself received Armenian journalists in
    Baku. After Aliyev's illness, and later death, attitudes changed
    sharply. People visiting Armenia were branded as traitors, even on the
    ministerial level.'

    Among others who criticized harshly, was the Azerbaijan News Service,
    even if their journalists were among the first few who traveled to
    Armenia.

    Today concludes Rzayev, most of the visitors from both sides consist
    of parliamentary members, government officials mostly for formal
    events, athletes, journalists and NGO representatives for
    international projects, competitions and various programs. `Lately,
    these visits are not as regular anymore. Governments of neither side
    are interested in them and create artificial difficulties'.

    It is difficult to pin down the exact number of visits that took place
    following the ceasefire and after 2003. Numerous programs took place,
    exchange visits, journalists doing projects together, and civil
    society organizations hosting events. Given the overall feeling around
    the conflict these days - bitterness, anger, frustration - it is
    certain that the relations are getting stingier, and opportunities for
    visits, mutual projects, reconciliation initiatives are losing ground
    in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

    Familiar feeling
    But then again, there are stories that prove otherwise. A student from
    Azerbaijan (the name will remain anonymous for safety purposes)
    visited Armenia on a school trip as part of an ethnography class last
    year. Remembering the trip, the student, who during the journey was
    introduced as an Israeli for security purposes, says that `after an
    hour or so of rush, scientific expertise of my passport and random
    blunt questions about the purpose of the visit, I was let into the
    country, very conveniently without any stamps on the passport. No
    security measures were taken or, at least, I didn't see anyone
    following me around trying to protect me. In short, for the first few
    hours, I had this very surreal yet at the same time very familiar
    feeling of being somewhere in the Caucasus'.

    One can only hope that one day, in the history of Armenian and
    Azerbaijani relations, the citizens of both countries will cross to
    `the other side', perhaps for a friendly visit, curiosity trip, or for
    work. Today, this remains a hope. Then again, who knows what future
    will bring to these two countries, at present all too much surrounded
    by hostility.
    -


    http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Regions-and-countries/Azerbaijan/Armenia-Azerbaijan-crossing-to-the-other-side-in-times-of-ceasefire-128992



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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