FLNCA supports journalist Solovyov, who criticized Azerbaijani airline for discrimination of Armenian native

The Federal Lezghin National and Cultural Autonomy (FLNCA) supported journalist Vladimir Solovyov, who spoke strongly against the Azerbaijani National Airline "AZAL", which had not allowed the Russian citizen Sergey Gyurdjian to enter an aircraft's board because of his Armenian origin.

"We, like Vladimir Solovyov, are also indignant at that flagrant fact, and we are convinced that in today's world, all states, which recognize the priority of human rights, must comply with internationally recognized human rights and freedoms of a person. And the Russian Federation, which became a second home for millions of Azerbaijani immigrants, adheres to this position. Azerbaijanis, who live in Russia, fully enjoy all guaranteed rights and freedoms," states the FLNCA's document, which was released on November 8.

The incident occurred on October 27, when Sergey Gyurdjian, the head of the export sales department of the LLC "AvtoVAZ", was supposed to fly from Moscow to Baku to attend the opening of the automobile showroom "Lada". According to Sergey Gyurdjian, a representative of the airline "AZAL" at the Airport "Domodedovo" denied to register him and told him: "The matter is that we have an instruction made by our management: not to register passengers with Armenian surnames." This was reported by according to Kornelij, the "Caucasian Knot" blogger, at the "Armenian chronicles". Sergey Gyurdjian also published details of the incident on his webpage in the "Live Journal". The record immediately got into the top list of the Russian blogosphere for October 29, and was closed almost immediately because of the large number of negative comments.

On November 1, on the air of the Radio Station "Vesti.FM", the journalist Vladimir Solovyov in the programme "Morning with Vladimir Solovyov. Full Contact." expressed his critical attitude toward the situation and stressed that "in accordance with Article of the Russian Constitution, no citizen of the Russian Federation shall be subjected to discrimination."

Let us note that on October 31 the airline "AZAL" reported that the information about the incident had been presented by the media and by the passenger himself in the incorrect form, the "Trend" reports.

"Gyurdjian was informed that his visit to Azerbaijan required guarantees for his safety, since he was an Armenian by origin. This caused a strong reaction from his side and from the person who flew with him. They began to insult the staff members of the airline "AZAL", and that fact caused discontent of the passengers who were passing registration for flight. Gyurdjian and the passenger, who flew with him, were taken off the flight because of their inadequate behaviour. The airline, which organizes flights, has every right for that," reported the official statement of the airline "AZAL".