Organizers of media exhibition in Tehran panic at causing Azeri delegation’s anger, cannot decide on We and Our Mountains monument image

PanARMENIAN.Net - At the very last moment, organizers of the 17th media exhibition in Tehran decided against putting the photograph of Artsakh’s symbol - We and Our Mountains memorial back on the Armenian stand. As PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reported from Tehran, exhibition organizers seem to be panicking at the thought of causing Azeri delegation’s anger with any of their actions.

Earlier, the Iranian officials assured the Armenian Ambassador to Iran that the photo will be put back on the stand.

Correspondents of PanARMENIAN.Net ews agency and Azg newspaper, representing Armenia at the exhibition, attempted to restore the stand to its original form with the help of exhibition employees. The employees who said they needed a hammer, asked Armenian reporters to procure it for them. However, when the reporters were back, the Iranian side appeared to have changed its mind about restoring the photo back on the stand.

After negotiations with the Iranian side, the Ambassador stated that the festival organizers promised to restore the Armenian pavilion, returning all photos, including We and Our Mountains to Armenian stand. As PanARMENIAN.Net representative at the exhibition Yekaterina Poghosyan noted, Armenian participants will boycott the exhibition unless the pavilion is fully restored by the morning.

According to the Ambassador, the organizers understand the discontent and protests of the Armenian side and will attempt to resolve the issue within shortest terms. “They were unwilling to cause disputes between the delegations, and took off the photo to prevent them. The memorial is authored by the Armenian architect. Thus the removal of the photo is a result of misunderstanding, as the memorial is a monument of the Armenian architecture regardless of its location. It’s now up to Iranian side to resolve the problem,” the Ambassador said.

As Armenian participants reported, provocations continue: they are accosted by men introducing themselves as Iranian Azerbaijani, who assure that they’re “defending Azerbaijan from Armenia’s infringement.”

A photograph of Artsakh’s symbol - We and Our Mountains memorial which was featured in the Armenian pavilion at the 17th media exhibition in Tehran, where Armenia is represented byPanARMENIAN.Net ews agency and Azg newspaper, aroused indignation of the Azerbaijani delegation. While the correspondents fromPanARMENIAN.Net nd Azg were preparing their pavilion for opening, the Azerbaijanis were closely following the action. After the map of Armenia and Artsakh Republic was stuck to the stand, they first demanded that the map and the image of the monument should be removed but then, without waiting for any decision by the exhibition management, one of them burst into the pavilion and tore away the map. It’s also worth mentioning that the Azerbaijanis called the Turkish delegation to protect their interests. Attempts to draw the infuriated Azerbaijani aside attracted attention of a dozen of foreign attendees.