Denying a visa to Mkhitaryan fits into Azerbaijan’s policy of anti-Armenian propaganda: Tigran Balayan

Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balyan has commented on the reports that Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be denied a visa to Azerbaijan.

“This ridiculous approach of Azerbaijan is not new to us, since they ban anyone with an Armenian surname. This fully fits into this country’s policy of propaganda of hatred for Armenians,” Balayan said in comments to Armenpress.

“It’s clear that the visit to Artakh has nothing to do here,” he added.

“The situation has grown so ridiculous that last year a Turkish man with a Turkish citizenship was not allows into Azerbaijan because of a surname ending in ‘yan’,” the Spokesman concluded.

Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan could miss the UEFA Europa League match against Azerbaijan’s Gabala FC set for October 22.

According to reports in Azeri media, Borussia Dortmund’s #10 may be denied a visa because of his visit to Nagorno Karabakh in 2011.

“We hope that this is not true,” BVB spokesman Sascha Fligge told the German SPORT1. “At the moment Henrikh is a super important player for us, who has shown brilliant achievements for weeks.”