Armenia’s representatives reject further participation in media exhibition in Iran

PanARMENIAN.Net - The organizers of the 17th international exhibition festival of press and information agencies, where Armenia is represented by PanARMENIAN.Net news agency and Azg newspaper, asked the Armenian journalists to continue participation in the event but were rejected due to the failure to return the photograph of the Armenian monument to the Armenian pavilion.

Therefore, the event organizers said they will not pay for accommodation of the Armenian delegation any more.

Thanks to the efforts of Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Grigor Arakelyan, the Armenian journalists will come back to Yerevan on the night of October 30, several days prior to the scheduled date of return.

Besides, PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent Yekaterina Poghosyan reported that yesterday, October 28, the exhibition managers collected the Armenian delegation’s statement from other participants.

Earlier, when Armenian journalists started distributing the statement, one of the exhibition organizers approached them and said that participants have no right to circulate any documents in the exhibit hall. In response, Armenia’s representatives showed a “book” about Nagorno Karabakh, which is being distributed by the Azerbaijani delegation among the other participants of the event.

Representative of the organizing committee said he is unaware of it and promised to collect those books. However, the attempt to take away the edition from the Armenian journalists did not succeed.

Although circulation of the statement was barred, the other participants of the exhibition had a possibility to familiarize themselves with the text reading: “Dear colleagues, we, the correspondents of PanARMENIAN.Net news agency and Azg newspaper, representing Armenia at the exhibition festival of press and information agencies, apologize for ceasing our participation over the unsatisfactory organization of the event, during which media freedom is being infringed and limitations are imposed on materials providing information about our country. We express our indignation at the fact that the exhibition organizers disallow placement of We and Our Mountains monument image on our stand, thus yielding to provocative acts of the Azerbaijani delegation, which used the event to push on anti-Armenian propaganda and claims to the historical Armenian land, Artsakh. With the exhibition organizers failing to keep their promise and return the photograph of the monument to the Armenian pavilion as well as to ensure security of the Armenian delegation, we consider our further participation in the event to be impossible.”

It worth mentioning that the other delegations support the Armenian journalists and intend to issue a complaint over the improper organization of the event.

“As the Iranian side failed to keep its promise and return the photograph of We and Our Mountains memorial, placing a photo of Yerevan fountains instead, we took the decision to boycott the event,”PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent Yekaterina Poghosyan said.

A photograph of Artsakh’s symbol - We and Our Mountains memorial which was featured in the Armenian pavilion at the 17th media exhibition in Tehran aroused indignation of the Azerbaijani delegation. While the correspondents from PanARMENIAN.Net and Azg were preparing their pavilion for opening on October 25, the Azerbaijanis were closely following the action. After the map of Armenia and Artsakh Republic was stuck to the stand, they first demanded that the map and the image of the monument should be removed but then, without waiting for any decision by the exhibition management, one of them burst into the pavilion and tore away the map. It’s also worth mentioning that the Azerbaijanis called the Turkish delegation to protect their interests. Attempts to draw the infuriated Azerbaijani aside attracted attention of a dozen of foreign attendees.

After talks with Armenia’s Ambassador to Iran Grigor Arakelyan, the organizers promised to return the photo but then went back on their word.