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Estonian media reacted angrily to the recent indent in Azerbaijan involving an Estonian citizen of Armenian origin who was held at Baku Airport for 12 hours and sent back to Estonia after it was found out that she had an Armenian surname.

In particular, news.err.ee news agency reports that last Friday, Azerbaijani authorities did not allow Karine Oganesyan, a citizen of Estonia and adviser to the Chairman of Tallinn City Council, as well as Chairperson of the Youth branch of Estonia's Centrist Party, to exit Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport upon her arrival in Azerbaijan, ultimately sending her back to Estonia.

The report says that Oganesyan flew to Baku last Friday, March 23 to participate in an international pedagogical conference, but upon her arrival at Baku Airport, she was allegedly denied entry to the country by local authorities due to her Armenian surname. 12 hours later, she was put on a plane back to Estonia.

The report cited the comments by Armenian Ambassador to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Tigran Mkrtchyan over the incident, saying, “This behavior once again displays the racist, intolerant nature of Baku authorities.”

One of the leading Estonian news agencies, delfi.ee also covered the story, stressing that in spite of the fact that she had officially received an electronic entrance visa, Oganesyan was barred from entering the country. The agency also cited the comments made by Chairman of the Ethnic Minorities Chamber of Estonia Rafik Grigoryan expressing his dissatisfaction on social media.

Baltnews.ee also touched upon the incident, noting that upon Oganesyan’s arrival in Baku, the Azerbaijani authorities spotted a “mistake” by finding out she had an Armenian surname, the reason behind deportation to Estonia. The agency also cited Tigran Mkrtchyan’s twitter post calling on the Estonian authorities to adequately respond to Azerbaijan’s such a scandalous behavior.

Renowned Estonian reporter, former editor of EEA News and editor-in-chief of Estonian World portal, Silver Tambur said in a Facebook post that, “If anyone had any illusions that the country is dealing with in Azerbaijan, then after this incident, these illusions have hopefully shattered.” 

She also added Estonian foreign politicians defend human rights across the world, but turn a bling eye on them in Azerbaijan’s case.

Presenting the details of the incident, ohtuleht.ee reports that they reached the Estonian Foreign Ministry for comments, with the latter saying they are aware of the incident, and measures are underway to clarify it.

Postimees.ee news agency presents the arbitrary actions of the Azerbaijani authorities and states that the Armenian background, despite the fact of legal documents, was the reason behind Karine Oganesyan’s deportation from the country.