Al Bano about his performances in NKR and Azerbaijan: I am musician and I respect people everywhere
"I am for the peace, I love to see people living in peace, I do not want to go into such kind of problems, I'm Italian and I know the problems of Italy, but each country has its own problems. I have already been told about this issue (on Karabakh), but I think that the intelligent people will understand me. They will understand my disposition as an actor, singer. I think that only politics are involved in this problem.
And I respect people everywhere," stated the Italian singer Al Bano in the interview with the Azerbaijani news agency "Vesti.az" about his visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
The singer noted that on 18 December, he will give a performance in Baku. Answering the question of the Azerbaijani agency about his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2010, Al Bano stated: "I understood what you wanted to ask me avout, but look, I'm just a singer, I'm not a politician. In many countries, there is such kind of problem."
He noted that when he visited Karabakh he did not know about the conflict and expressed his regret for the existing situation. "I am a man of peace and I feel pleased when I see that people live in peace," said the Italian singer.
According to Al Bano, he also did not know that he was included in the "black list" of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. On hearing this, the singer "turned to Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Italy, and now all the problems are solved."
The Azerbaijani news agency reminds that Al Bano has taken part in the "Karabakh corrida" - a donkey races organized in Martakert region of NKR. Al Bano was invited to the NKR by the well-known Russian businessman and philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan. After the completion of the competition Al Bano has pleased the participants and guests of the race with his singing. After that, Al Bano was included in the "black list" of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, along with other artists and politicians who had visited the NKR.
Recently, Azerbaijani media reported that on December 18, Baku will host a concert of Italian pop stars and Al Bano will be in attended it too. Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev stated to the agency "Vesti.az" in this connection that Al Bano has addressed to the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Italy for visiting Baku and had expressed his regrets for the fact that his name had appeared on the "black list".
According to Abdullayev, in his address, the singer had noticed that he was not familiar with the problems of the region and he had no political goals during his visit to Karabakh.