Armenian political and human rights activist Vahe Avetian flew into Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport on October 9th.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have both listed one another’s citizens as persona non grata due to the Karabakh conflict. However, visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan by nationals of the waring countries are occasionally permitted entry for special events.
Avetian’s visit, however, caused quite a stir as he tried entering Azerbaijan as a private citizen without either an invitation from the Azerbaijani government or prior consent.
Per his personal Facebook page, Avetian was not immediately denied entry to Azerbaijan, and even sat with Azerbaijani officials and airport staff for coffee:
“They’ve treated me to toasts and coffee. We’re sitting, chatting, laughing. Great guys. There were some people here from the government. They greeted and accepted me warmly – welcome to Azerbaijan. They have left to move the process along faster. But what process, they didn’t say. We’re all waiting together…”
The activist later posted a conversation between himself and a security guard:
“An Armenian hasn’t come through here in 25 years, without an invitation, without a former agreement between the States. You know all this. . . So why did you come?”
“Well, here’s the first Armenian whose come in the past 25 years on his own decision! We’re changing history. It has already changed. . . Peace starts today, now!”
Ultimately, Avetian was not granted entry into Azerbaijan. Visits by Armenians to Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis to Armenia in the past have generally been formally regulated and agreed upon by both sides.
Avetian departed from Azerbaijan by Ukraine International Airlines to Kiev.
Reactions to Avetian’s trip by Facebook users posting on his page ranged from delight to calls to for arrest.
Avetian described his journey to Baku as his “personal hajj”. He resides in Stockholm, where he focusses on political and human rights matters both in Armenia and abroad.
