BAKU—Azeri news services reported Monday that two unnamed Armenian soccer players, both citizens of Russia, were expelled from the Gyanja (historically the Armenian city of Gantsak) airport.
This is the second expulsion of Armenians by Azerbaijan within the last month. On June 28, Bloomberg photojournalist Diana Markosian was expelled from Baku airport after being kept in the airport transit area for 16 hours. Diana Markosian has US and Russian citizenship.
In both cases, the only reason for the expulsion is their Armenian heritage.
The recent deportees are football players from the Russian city of Armavir chosen to play for the Kamaz team of Ganja city.
The Markosian case prompted two prominent watchdog groups, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders to highlight and condemn Baku’s actions.
Again, I must ask, what were these two footballers thinking when they got on the plane? A) If they are Armenian, why would they even consider playing in azerbaijan? B) It is already well known that ethnic Armenians, regardless of where they were born, are not allowed to enter the sultanate of baku.