Shahin Mirzoyev: I fled Azerbaijan with my family to escape death
A conference entitled “The Breakthrough of the Blockade of Stepanakert: 25 Years Later” got underway in Yerevan on February 15. Shahin Mirzoyev, a correspondent of the “Talysh Sado” newspaper, an activist and member of Azerbaijan’s ethnic Talysh minority, who fled Azerbaijan a few days ago and requested Armenian authorities a temporary asylum for himself and his family, is participating in the conference. Mirzoyev is said to have fled his country because of gross violations of his rights and persecution on ethnic grounds. There are about 2 million Talysh people living in Azerbaijan, and they are actually seen as enemies of the country. They are deprived of the opportunity to raise their issues through mass media. About 300 thousand of them have fled to Russia and other countries over the past years. “Talysh people are imprisoned and subjected to violence in Azerbaijan. I’ve just fled Azerbaijan with my family to escape death. I think I was not mistaken to come to Armenia,” Mirzoyev said.
