Rafael Vahanyan says Armenians should not participate in Baku Chess Olympiad
“I cannot imagine that our chess players can participate in the Chess Olympiad that is due to be held in Baku in September. I find it completely senseless to send a team to Baku after the four-day in Nagorno Karabakh in early April,” Rafael Vahanyan, a prominent Armenian chess player, told reporters on June 17. Hovik Khalikyan, Vice-President of the Armenian Chess Federation, is against Armenia’s participation in the Chess Olympiad. “”Of course, sport is politics. If Azerbaijanis demonstrate good will and try to normalize relations between the two countries through sports, then we have nothing against our team’s participation. But as long as our neighbouring country does not take any steps to normalize relations, we should refuse to participate in all sporting events held in that country,” he said.
