Special for the Armenian Weekly
Dear Mr. Michel Platini, president of the Union of European Football Associations,
It is with great surprise and disappointment that on Sept. 19, 2014, I heard the news that the UEFA Executive Committee appointed Baku, Azerbaijan, as one of 13 cities hosting matches during the 2020 UEFA EURO football tournament. According to the statement put out by the UEFA, Azerbaijan will be staging the quarter-finals match plus three group games in Baku.
UEFA president Michel Platini (Photo courtesy of www.uefa.org)
This announcement is deeply concerning, considering Azerbaijan’s track-record of human rights violations and the country’s ongoing aggression towards Armenians.
Several independent bodies, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have frequently criticized and condemned the government of Azerbaijan for its dismal human rights record. According to an Aug. 1, 2014 report by Amnesty International, “The persecution of human rights activists continues unabated in Azerbaijan, in spite of the obligations the country committed to as a member of Council of Europe and currently a chair of its decision-making body, the Committee of Ministers.”
The Azerbaijani government’s poor record on freedom of expression, assembly, and association continues to radically deteriorate year after year. Violations in elections, the rise of corruption, and politically motivated prosecutions, as well as a severe lack of freedom of the press, has made Azerbaijan among the world’s biggest violators of basic human rights.
For example, although independent news outlets exist in the country, journalists who speak out against the current Azerbaijani regime are harassed, assaulted, and often imprisoned. In the latest Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Azerbaijan ranked 160th out of a total of 180 nations.
The government of Azerbaijan has also actively continued a policy of hostility against Armenians—from exile and pogroms in the late 1980’s, to the constant war-mongering rhetoric threatening to end the cease-fire with the Nagorno Karabagh Republic. More recently, the planned destruction of Armenian khatchkars (cross-stones) in the Nakhichevan region, which are now declared as items of world heritage by UNESCO, proves to the world that Azerbaijan has been taking active steps towards erasing the memory of Armenians from their country.
Today, citizens of the Republic of Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent, continue to be forbidden entry into the Republic of Azerbaijan. Moreover, if a person’s passport shows any evidence of travel to the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, they are denied entry to the country. Just in 2013, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry issued a “Black List,” which disclosed the names of over 300 individuals from over 40 countries who had visited Nagorno-Karabagh since 2005 “without Baku’s permission,” and labeled them “persona non grata.” Members of this list, which includes parliament members, journalists, and entertainers, were all accused of undermining “the national sovereignty and territorial unity” of Azerbaijan.
In addition to those declared persona non grata, many others have been forbidden entry to Azerbaijan due to their supposed ethnic Armenian identity. Earlier this year, Zafer Zoyan, an ethnic Turkish professional arm-wrestler, was barred from entering Azerbaijan because his last name resembled that of an Armenian’s. The 24-year-old resident of the Turkish city of Diyarbakir flew to Baku to compete in the 2014 European Arm-wrestling Championship along with other members of Turkey’s national team, but was quickly denied entry because of his last name.
President Platini,
As you well know, the Armenian National Football team is currently in contention for qualification in the 2016 European Football Championship. If the team were to qualify in 2020, its members would not be allowed to travel to and play in Baku.
As a Canadian of Armenian descent, I would not be allowed to travel to Azerbaijan to be a spectator at the tournament. Being denied the chance to witness one of the biggest events in football under these circumstances is insulting, racist, discriminatory, and in violation of my basic human rights.
As an organization that prides itself on fighting racism and discrimination and in contributing to inclusion, peace-building, reconciliation, and solidarity, the UEFA has made a major misstep in awarding Azerbaijan the honor of being a host country for its most important tournament. Moreover, the Union has failed in staying true to its mandate of promoting good through the sport of football.
It is my wish for you to reconsider Azerbaijan as a host nation of the 2020 European Football Championship. If this is not an option, would the UEFA be able to guarantee my or any other persons’ entry into Baku? Furthermore, would our safety be ensured by the Union?
I patiently await your response.
Sincerely,
Rupen Janbazian
Toronto, Canada