Trend Agency commentator Elmira Tariverdiyeva
It became known today that Armenia has officially refused to take part in the prestigious 'Eurovision' Song Contest this year, to be held in Baku in May. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has expressed disappointment with the Armenian side's decision.
It seems that nothing extraordinary has happened. They just refused. Moreover, a number of countries sometimes take these decisions for various reasons. They have previously notified the EBU about this. However, Yerevan has not simply refused from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Baku. It did it with such a fanfare in an attempt to justify its refusal from participating in the contest by pseudo-patriotic reasons, based on a lie.
However everything must be mentioned step by step. In October 2011 the Azerbaijani government on behalf of Prime Minister Artur Rasizade submitted a letter with guarantees to the EBU regarding the Eurovision song contest in Baku in May 2012. The letter explained about ensuring the security of all guests who arrive at the contest as well as the simplification of visas.
In January Armenia applied to take part in Eurovision-2012 in Baku. Then Yerevan was not confused. They were willing not only to come, but even threatened to win.
Later, Armenia decided to withdraw from the contest in Baku. Yerevan decided to justify its refusal by some quite inappropriate reasons having nothing to do with reality.
Yerevan explained some Armenian singers' appeal on the inadmissibility of Armenia's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 by the death of an Armenian soldier allegedly killed by an Azerbaijani sniper. However, as it turned out later that a soldier was shot from a distance of several metres, almost at point blank range by his own colleague (incidentally, this is the fifth case in the Armenian army when one military kills another since early 2012).
However, despite this, Armenia has still refused to participate in this popular contest thus showing that the death of a soldier is just an excuse. That is really another Armenian propaganda shame. This is another shame of the Armenian defence Ministry and a number of Armenian singers who follow their authorities' tastes to try to discredit Azerbaijan, which will host Eurovision this year.
The song contest could also contribute to the public diplomacy of Azerbaijan and Armenia and promote the convergence of the parties in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which has been recently mentioned. However, pseudo patriots are in power in Armenia leaving all efforts to promote a dialogue remaining futile.