The final of a music competition in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, has turned into a local political circus. It was enough for Azerbaijani singer Samira Efendi to hug Armenian participant Saro Gevorgyan for Facebook to “erupt,” reports vestibaku.com.
The incident concerns a moment in the Silk Way Star competition where Efendi gave the participant representing Armenia the maximum 12 points.
“However, the most conspicuous reaction came from notorious scandalist Akif Nagi, who staged a true hysterical performance on his page,” vestibaku.com notes.
Nagi previously led the so-called “Karabakh Liberation Organization,” whose activities involved hysterical acts concerning visits of Armenians to Azerbaijani capital Baku.
“While [Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev consistently promotes the line of peace, dialogue, and post-conflict resolution [with Armenians], Nagi behaves as if he is the last bastion of war, and the artists’ hug is a threat to [Azerbaijani] national security. It turns out that Nagi publicly attacks not only the [aforesaid Azerbaijani] singer, but also the idea of Azerbaijani peaceful politics. Following his logic, cultural contact [with Armenians] is a crime, and any display of goodwill [towards Armenians] is an occasion for lynching,” adds vestibaku.com.
“At the concert, everything looked clear and professional. Samira, as a member of the panel of judges, awarded the Armenian performer the maximum 12 points and warmly hugged him during the announcement of results. No political statements, no symbols; a normal gesture among artists participating in an international show. But for Akif Nagi, this was enough to denigrate the [Azerbaijani] singer with mud, call her a ‘traitor,’ devalue her [singing] career, and even cast doubt on her nationality.”
