Yesterday I went to Stepanagert and on the way as I was driving through Aghdam, I noticed 3 men stopped and standing outside their car with one man taking pictures.
I pulled up beside them, rolled down my window and asked them what they were doing? Two of them approached my car as the one with the camera stayed near their car.
I informed them of the law of no picture taking in reclaimed territories and the guy got right up in my face to tell me that he could do anything he wanted to do.
He then asked me who came up with that rule, as he has never heard of it. I said it was a government decision and I�m sure there is a good reason for it, something connected with risks, spying and national security.
He again said that he never heard that rule and I said that you have now and advised him to stop in at the Minister of Foreign Affairs office to ask about it.
I asked him where he was from and he told me he was from Stepanagert and he reclaimed Aghdam (as if that gives him a right to do whatever he wants to).
I asked him where his guest with the camera was from. He refused to answer.
He wanted to continue to argue with me and my contractor who was with me advised him not to challenge me and to get in his car and drive off.
He didn�t seem to like that comment and I could see that this guy who I believe told me his name was Artush was starting to get mad and I figured we had pissed him off enough, so I ended the conversation, drove off slowly and noted his license number (64 US 261).
I got to Stepanagert and went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office to report this incident to the Deputy Foreign Minister, Masis. He was not in and was not due back that day so the guard gave me his cell phone number.
I called Masis and told him what had happened. He noted the license number and said he would take care of it.
I�m not sure what Masis did, but I will give him a call next week to see who the guy with the camera was and if they confiscated his film and checked to see if he had a visa to visit Artsakh (which I bet he didn�t, as he would have stopped in to the MFA and would have known about that rule).
I was thinking that since the government is strapped as far as man power and there really is a need to keep an eye on rule breaking visitors, who potentially could also take sensitive pictures or collect information in areas which could cause a threat to our security, I should sponsor the salaries of a couple of people who can be stationed in Aghdam and Fizuli to monitor visitors who pass through areas that they are not suppose to pass through and report their findings back to me and I�ll pass on that information to the MFA and follow up on what they did about such offenses.
Anyway, it�s time to get some sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow as were working on the tail-end of updating our equipment at the factory and by the end of the month, we should be starting production of tiles.
I pulled up beside them, rolled down my window and asked them what they were doing? Two of them approached my car as the one with the camera stayed near their car.
I informed them of the law of no picture taking in reclaimed territories and the guy got right up in my face to tell me that he could do anything he wanted to do.
He then asked me who came up with that rule, as he has never heard of it. I said it was a government decision and I�m sure there is a good reason for it, something connected with risks, spying and national security.
He again said that he never heard that rule and I said that you have now and advised him to stop in at the Minister of Foreign Affairs office to ask about it.
I asked him where he was from and he told me he was from Stepanagert and he reclaimed Aghdam (as if that gives him a right to do whatever he wants to).
I asked him where his guest with the camera was from. He refused to answer.
He wanted to continue to argue with me and my contractor who was with me advised him not to challenge me and to get in his car and drive off.
He didn�t seem to like that comment and I could see that this guy who I believe told me his name was Artush was starting to get mad and I figured we had pissed him off enough, so I ended the conversation, drove off slowly and noted his license number (64 US 261).
I got to Stepanagert and went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office to report this incident to the Deputy Foreign Minister, Masis. He was not in and was not due back that day so the guard gave me his cell phone number.
I called Masis and told him what had happened. He noted the license number and said he would take care of it.
I�m not sure what Masis did, but I will give him a call next week to see who the guy with the camera was and if they confiscated his film and checked to see if he had a visa to visit Artsakh (which I bet he didn�t, as he would have stopped in to the MFA and would have known about that rule).
I was thinking that since the government is strapped as far as man power and there really is a need to keep an eye on rule breaking visitors, who potentially could also take sensitive pictures or collect information in areas which could cause a threat to our security, I should sponsor the salaries of a couple of people who can be stationed in Aghdam and Fizuli to monitor visitors who pass through areas that they are not suppose to pass through and report their findings back to me and I�ll pass on that information to the MFA and follow up on what they did about such offenses.
Anyway, it�s time to get some sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow as were working on the tail-end of updating our equipment at the factory and by the end of the month, we should be starting production of tiles.
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