Armenian journalists speak about incident with Azerbaijani colleagues in Iranian exhibition

A group of Armenian journalists participating in the 17th International Media Exhibition boycotted the event because of a row with Azerbaijani delegation over a photo symbolizing Karabakh.

The Iranian exhibition is closing today, but the Armenian participants returned to Yerevan two days before its closure. In a press conference today a reporter of local Armenian daily Azg (nation) Hasmik Harutyunyan and a reporter of news agency Panarmenian.net Ekaterina Poghosyan, as well as editors of other media outlets attending the conference dwelled on the details of the incident.

According to the Armenian journalists, the Azeri media representatives "attempted to provoke the Armenian delegation, asking the Armenians were so few in number, and why only female representatives were participating in the event."

The Armenian representatives were able to avoid conflicts until an Azerbaijani journalist working for Azerbaijan news agency APA "violently broke into their pavilion and tore the maps of Armenia and Artsakh." What drove the Azeri representative out of patience was the photo featuring the famous symbol of Artsakh (We Are Our Mountains) installed on the Armenian pavilion.

After the incident, the organizers had to remove the photo for security considerations.

Offended, the Armenian journalists expressed their complaints to the exhibition organizers, claiming that the photo be reinstalled.

But as the they didn't keep their promise the Armenians decided to discontinue their participation in the event and returned to Armenia.

Azg's Editor-in-Chief of Hakob Avetikyan praised the Armenian journalists for their "brevity," at the same time highlighting the importance of being better prepared for international events next time.