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In a rebuke to Azeri efforts to discredit elected officials, California State Assembly Speaker John Perez, who just returned from a visit to Armenia, responded to a threat from Azeri Consul General in Los Angeles of being included in a so-called “black list” of people visiting the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the American Asbarez club writes.

It says that Perez was never scheduled to travel to Artsakh but he visited Armenia. Yet his absence from the Artsakh leg of the trip was characterized by Azeri officials and media as him having caved into Azeri pressures. “Please be advised that if the Republic of Azerbaijan does, in fact, add any California official to the list of persona non grata you should immediately add my name as well,” stated Perez.

In his letter the speaker notes that id the consulate had inquired before sending its letter, they would have learned that at no time did his itinerary include visiting Nagorno-Karabakh. He also added that , “no one can dictate the travel plans of duly elected representatives of the State of California.”

The speaker also noted that raising the threat of making people persona non grata in Azerbaijan because of visiting NKR hardly seems conducive to building a strong and mutually beneficial relationship.

«Азбарез» напоминает, что делегация членов Собрания во главе с Перезом посетила Армению 17-го сентября по приглашению правительства страны. После того, как Перез покинул Армению, остальные члены делегации посетили Арцах. В канун визита делегации в Армению и Нагорный Карабах генконсул Азербайджана в Насими Агаев послал письмо членам делегации, угрожая объявлением персонами нон грата в случае посещения Арцаха.

Asbarez remind that the Perez-led delegation included Assemblymembers Katcho Achajian, Cheryl R. Brown, Adrin Nazarian and Scott Wilk. A Los Angeles City Council delegation also visiting Armenia includes Bob Blumenfield and Paul Krekorian and staff. They arrived in Armenia on September 17 at the invitation of the Armenian government. After Perez left Armenia, the remainder of the delegation visited Artsakh, where they met with government officials and toured the country. The Azeri Consul General Nasimi Aghayev sent a letter to the non-Armenian officials in the delegation threatening that if they travel to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, official Baku would deem them personae non gratae.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has published a list of individuals, which became personae non gratae for Azerbaijan because of visiting Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and are denied access to the country. There are 335 people on the list at the moment of publishing. Specifically, the given list includes the member of the parliament of the Southern Wales state of Australia Gledice Berezhiklyan, Russian State Duma deputy Oleg Pokholkov, an employee at the Ukrainian magazine “Profil” Varvara Zhlutenko, reporter of “The Washington Post” in Moscow Will Englund, Austrian conductor Ernest Hoetzl, Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé, and others.