Together with an American colleague, First Secretary Lars R. Aa. Hansen of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Baku undertook an excursion to the Autonomous Republic of Naxcivan on Wednesday, 13 January, 2010. In accordance with established practice, the visit had been notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in advance. Requests for meetings with Naxcivani authorities had been put forward.
An important goal of the trip was to gather information on alleged events in the village of Bananyar in the wake of Ashura manifestations on 27 December, 2009. Through conversations with the villagers, the diplomats wanted to obtain a better basis for judging the veracity of these allegations. Unfortunately, they were prevented from doing so by a crowd which forced them to return to the city of Naxcivan.
The Embassy has made its views on this incident known to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baku.
Royal Norwegian Embassy, Baku, 19 January, 2010