Azernews.Az

BAKU – An ethnic Armenian photo journalist working for Bloomberg news agency has been detained at the airport in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov has said Diana Markosyan’s detention was due to her failure to obtain accreditation to come to Azerbaijan.

Polukhov said Bloomberg has asked the ministry for authorization to prepare economic reports from Azerbaijan. The ministry reviewed the request and granted permission.

"About two weeks ago they replied in a letter. It said that Diana Markosyan, an ethnic Armenian US and Russian citizen, will accompany the journalist on his trip to Baku. Bloomberg’s executives were told that Azerbaijan is essentially in a state of war with Armenia. 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory is under Armenian occupation, and there are up to a million displaced persons and refugees [in Azerbaijan]. Therefore, a problem could emerge with ensuring the safety of Markosyan during her stay in Azerbaijan. So, we requested that another [Bloomberg] employee be sent here instead."

Polukhov said that nonetheless, Markosyan arrived in Baku on Tuesday morning. She was detained at the airport by State Border Service officers.

Markosyan was reportedly due to be deported to Istanbul on Tuesday evening.

Her photos are published in such major US newspapers as New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.