Zori Balajan

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Zori Balajan, 2010

Zori Balajan ( Armenian : Զորի Բալայան, born February 10, 1935 in Stepanakert , Azerbaijani SSR ) is an Armenian writer, journalist, sports doctor, traveler and co-chairman of the International Ecological Organization Baikal Movement.

biography

Balajan graduated from Ryazan State Medical University in 1963 . Between 1963 and 1973 he worked as a doctor in Kamchatka . In 1974 he returned to Armenia and has lived in Yerevan ever since . Balajan has been a correspondent for the Russian weekly newspaper Literaturnaja Gazeta since 1975 . In 1989 he was elected to the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of the Azerbaijani SSR. He was also a member of the People's Deputies Congress of the USSR .

Political opinions

With his book " The Hearth " (fire) , published in 1984, Balajan first came to the fore. In it, he described Nagorno-Karabakh and Naxçıvan as ancient Armenians and referred to the Turks and Azerbaijanis as the greatest enemies of Russia and Armenia. British journalist Thomas de Waal called Balajan a "chauvinistic intellectual warrior" whose book "should never have spread."

Balajan is considered to be one of the leading figures of the Armenian separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh. Together with the Armenian poet Silwa Kaputikjan , he was received personally by Michael Gorbachev in February 1988 to discuss the annexation of the then autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh region to Armenia.

Accusations from Azerbaijan

In connection with the terrorist attack on the Baku subway in July 1994, Balajan was accused by the Azerbaijani side as the main mastermind. In 1999, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant against the Armenian publicist on the basis of the evidence presented by the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor, listing the Armenian publicist as a felon. In 2001 the search was discontinued at the request of the Armenian side due to the “politically motivated character” of the case and Balajan was removed from the Interpol wanted list. In May 2005, Balajan was arrested by the police for five hours while on a boat trip in Brindisi ( southern Italy ), but was released a short time later.

Others

In October 2013 Balajan addressed a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin , recalling the annexation of Karabakh to the Russian Empire in 1813 and calling on Putin to re-annex Karabakh to Russia. He was heavily criticized for these statements both in Armenia and by the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Армянский информационный портал: Зорий Айкович Балаян | Люди | Статьи | Армянский информационный портал. Retrieved July 10, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Глава 9. Противоречия. Сюжет двадцатого века . July 10, 2005 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed July 10, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Thomas de Waal: Black Garden. Armenia and Azerbaijan through peace and war . New-York Press, New-York 2003, pp. 142-143 .
  4. ↑ Felicity Barringer With Bill Keller and Special To the New York Times: A Test of Change Explodes in Soviet . ( nytimes.com [accessed July 10, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Интерпол решает вопрос о возобновлении розыска армянского публициста по запросу прокураернай Азжжураерныа . In: ИА REGNUM . ( regnum.ru [accessed July 10, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Interpol detained armenian publicist by mistake . In: PanARMENIAN.Net . ( panarmenian.net [accessed July 10, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Лусине Мусаелян: Письмо Зория Балаяна Путину удостоилось резкой критики в Армении и Карабахе . In: Радио Свобода . ( azatutyun.am [accessed July 10, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Balajan, Zori
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Armenian writer, journalist, sports doctor and traveler
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Stepanakert