By Alexander Pracht
Tigran Balayan, Armenia’s Ambassador to the European Union, reportedly received death threats from his Azerbaijani counterpart Vaqif Sadiqov a week ago, with the Armenian Embassy lodging a formal protest with other diplomatic missions in Brussels, according to American digital newspaper Politico. This was confirmed today by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
In a letter reportedly sent to envoys last week, seen and confirmed by Politico, it was alleged that Balayan was “verbally attacked and intimidated” by Sadiqov and received explicit threats against his life.
The incident happened last Tuesday at an event organized by Turkey in Brussels on the occasion of the country’s Republic Day and attended by both Balayan and Sadiqov.
Responding to Politico’s inquiry on the matter, Sadiqov denied the incident had taken place, labeling the allegations ridiculous and also claiming he was unaware of Armenia’s letter of protest.
The Armenian Embassy in the EU refused to respond to Politico’s inquiry, while the Turkish Embassy has also not provided any comment on the matter so far. However, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Ministry Paruyr Hovhannisyan confirmed today that the allegations are true.
“There were threats and insults during the reception, and we have informed Belgium and the European Union of this. The investigation into the matter is currently underway,” he said as he spoke to reporters in parliament.
Last June, Sadiqov publicly threatened the members of the European Parliament who visited Armenia, urged Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from the internationally-recognized Armenian territories and eventually traveled to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border area.
“They know what they are doing to protect themselves. The Istiglal IST-14.5 anti-materiel sniper rifle produced in Azerbaijan has the effective firing range of about 3,000 m. Guys, keep clear of Azerbaijani state border…” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Just seven weeks later, the EU monitoring mission in Armenia, which is a civilian and unarmed presence, came under Azerbaijani sniper fire near the border in the Gegharkunik region. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the attack that forced the observers to take shelter in an Armenian dugout.
Image may be NSFW.
— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) August 15, 2023
Clik here to view.Azerbaijani troops opened fire on EU observers in Armenia near the border today. The video below shows an EU observer sheltering in an Armenian bunker after their vehicles were shot at by Azerbaijani troops. pic.twitter.com/DR8avvrWw2
The incident caused additional controversy as it was initially reported by the Armenian Defense Ministry and promptly denied by the EU mission, causing Azerbaijani authorities to accuse Armenia of making false statements on social media. While the EU mission eventually corrected its statement and confirmed that the shooting took place, the confusion inevitably dealt a blow to the mission’s reputation in Armenia.
Now that Sadiqov’s intolerance towards Armenian and European officials has apparently gone beyond petty squabbles on social media, Armenia will closely monitor the investigation’s outcome and the EU’s response. This incident, though much about it remains unclear, could well be another attempt by Baku to stir up controversy and stall the signing of the long-awaited normalization deal with Yerevan.
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