Eurovision Song Contest: Armenia Boycotts Event In Azerbaijan 2012

Armenia Eurovision

First Posted: 7/03/2012 21:40 Updated: 7/03/2012 21:50   WENN

Armenia has pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest over new tensions with rival Azerbaijan - the hosts of this year's event.

The organisers of the annual contest have announced Armenian Public Television bosses decided not to compete or cover the event in May over ongoing strife between Armenia and the host nation, which dates back to the Nagorno-Karabakh wars in the 1990s.

A statement from the TV network reads, "Despite the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities have given security guarantees to all participating countries, several days ago the Azerbaijani president made a statement that enemy number one for Azerbaijan were the Armenians... There is no logic to sending a participant to a country where he will be met as an enemy."

Reacting to news, Azerbaijani politician Ali Ahmedov told reporters that Armenia had no genuine reason to boycott the competition in Baku: "The Armenian refusal to take part in such a respected contest will cause even further damage to the already damaged image of Armenia."

Over 40 nations will compete for the Eurovision Song Contest crown, which was won by Azerbaijan in 2011.

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Armenia has pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest over new tensions with rival Azerbaijan - the hosts of this year's event. The organisers of the annual contest have announced Armenian Public T...
Armenia has pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest over new tensions with rival Azerbaijan - the hosts of this year's event. The organisers of the annual contest have announced Armenian Public T...
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12:10 AM on 03/09/2012
I suppose taking one's political issues out upon the Olympics is passe. It's Eurovision now.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
adidasmmxx
No likey? Not bovvered !
11:56 AM on 03/08/2012
Oh dear ,well Im absolutely shell shocked -must remember to take some valium to cope ..
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GingerlyColors
No will to change it, no right to criticize it
10:14 AM on 03/08/2012
A bit pathetic, really. It is worth noting that the European Broadcasting Union includes several North African countries including Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, because their countries have been within range of traditional television and radio broadasts from Europe and they can also broadcast to Europe. Because Israel regularly partakes in the Eurovision Song Contest these countries have normally refused to take part although Morocco participated in the 1980 contest. Why don't these countries let their polititians and diplomats sort out their disputes and allow the singers and bands to enjoy the contest without letting politics get in the way. Nogorno-Karabakh is a mainly ethnic-Armenian region within Azerbijan and they seek union with neighbouring Armenia, which has been a source of conflict since the last days of the Soviet Union. Armenia also has a dispute with Turkey regarding the genocide of 2,000,000 ethnic Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. While denial of the alleged attrocity is illegal in several European countries, as is the Nazi Holocaust, it is an offence to say this it happened in Turkey. Unfortunately, Armenia's decision to boycott Eurovision will only earn them 'nil points'.
10:30 AM on 03/08/2012
I agree, this should be a non political event however, this just goes to show how petty Armenia is. Also, I couldn't help but be amazed at your comments about the alleged genocide of Armenians nearly a hundred years ago (even going so far as to raise the estimated number of deaths by an extra million and a half!) when you can't bring yourself to admit the genocide which actually took place 20 years ago. Not only that but you try to justify it by saying it had a majority ethnic Armenian population! Is that an acceptable excuse for you?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GingerlyColors
No will to change it, no right to criticize it
01:52 PM on 03/10/2012
I live in the United Kingdom for a start, which has not been involved in any recent genocides. You mentioned a genocide 20 years ago, are you refering to the attrocities committed by Serbia during the Bosnian war? As for Turkey and Armenia there is a lot of debate about how many actually died during the First World War. Also Turkey did not exist as a country until after the Treaty of Sèvres, one of the three treaties that ended the First World War resulted in the desolution of the Ottoman Empire. The other treaties I refer to here are the Treaty of Versailles, in which Germany lost territory to neighbouring countries and the Trianon Treaty which decimated Hungary.
As for the Armenian-Azerbaijan situation both those countries were absorbed into the Soviet Union and during the next seven decades populations were displaced, certain ethnic groups expelled and other groups encouraged to settle in occuppied territories. You may remember the brief war between Russia and Georgia a few years ago. This was caused by Georgia trying to retake control of two regions where ethnic Russians had become the majority. Georgia initially indended to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest which was being hosted in Moscow, before submitting Put-In Disco by Stephanie and 3G which was banned as it allegedly insulted Vladmir Putin! The Baltic States also have large Russian minorities, many of them being denied full citizenship unless they pass the local language tests.
09:28 AM on 03/08/2012
Very disappointed that you haven't mentioned the reason why there is animosity between the the two countries other than to make a brief by the by statement of "Nagorno-Karabakh wars in the 1990s". Please allow me to enlighten fellow readers who may not be aware that the reason is that during this war Armenia's aggressive occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is Azeri land, resulted in the genocide of hundreds of Azeri people, for which the international community still seems to be silent about and forgotten.