Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 25
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:
People always feel the need to delay something planned in advance, just as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did recently, when it was announced that his visit to South Caucasus was postponed. But it was a bit strange that the news about postponing the visit came when little time was left for its start.
Ban Ki-moon was planning to visit Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia from Apr. 23 through Apr. 27, and preparations were underway for the trip. Some sources told Trend Apr. 20 that the preparations were going on at full pace and that the UN secretary general will leave for Georgia on Apr. 23.
However, the news came on Apr. 21 about the sudden postponement of the visit. Unexpectedness was the key point here; why would the visit be cancelled a day before its start?
But everything became clear thanks to information obtained by Trend from diplomatic sources. It turned out that Ban Ki-moon was initially planning to arrive in Georgia on Apr. 23, then depart for Armenia on Apr. 25, and arrive in Azerbaijan on Apr. 26.
However, for Yerevan, for obvious reasons, it was vital that the UN secretary general arrive in Armenia exactly on Apr. 24, the day the Armenians call "the day of genocide" and chose that day as a date when the world needs to feel "heartily sorry" for them.
But Ban Ki-moon refused to take part in the Armenian show called "let's all together recognize the genocide", and tried to move the date of his Yerevan trip to Apr. 25.
He just didn't want to be forced to visit the memorial, where Armenia's leadership always takes anyone arriving in the country.
Meanwhile, the "long-suffering" nation doesn't want to lose so easily. Unprecedented pressure was exerted on Ban Ki-moon, including by the Armenians living in the US, diplomatic sources told Trend.
The officials who have relations with the Armenian lobby, the lobby members themselves, as well as many influential members of the political elite poorly versed in history were persuading Ban Ki-moon to realize the visit.
Therefore, the UN's wise secretary general, who became tired of refusing and didn't want to explain why he wouldn't visit Yerevan on Apr. 24, simply postponed the trip to the entire region - which also meant postponing the trip to Azerbaijan as well.
And apparently, feeling uncomfortable by having cancelled the trip to Azerbaijan, Ban Ki-moon not only sent a letter to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev extending sincere apologies to the president and to the Azerbaijani people for postponing his trip to Baku, but also later phoned the president and once again expressed regret that he could not visit Baku.
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Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian news service, follow her on Twitter: @EmmaTariver