Azerbaijani Grandmaster: Excluding Maria Gevorgyan from Participation is a Provocation by the Turkish Side

The member of the Azerbaijani chess team, 33-year-old Grandmaster Gadir Guseinov, commented on the incident regarding the Armenian chess champion and international master Maria Gevorgyan being removed from the list of participants in a Turkish tournament at the request of Azerbaijanis.

The Azerbaijani grandmaster addressed Maria Gevorgyan with an unofficial response letter, leaving an explanatory comment under the Armenian chess player’s Facebook post. According to Gadir Guseinov, the responsibility for this incident lies entirely with the organizers from Turkey.

“Hello Maria. I became familiar with this incident yesterday and spent about three hours studying this history. I spoke with the players of the tournament, the main organizers and director of the tournament, and my federation. This is entirely the fault of the organizers and a provocation. I have full information about this story. The Azerbaijani Chess Federation has contacted the Turkish Chess Federation and filed a complaint with the organizers. The Turkish Chess Federation promised to handle this situation. According to my information, the president of the Turkish Chess Federation has gone there. Azerbaijani players have not signed any petition. There was only one electronic letter from a player who has a FIDE rating of 1709. This is not a document or anything special. If the organizers heed the foolish request of one player who has a FIDE rating of 1709 (although it does not matter whether it’s 1709 or 2800), it is a great shame for them and a clear provocation. It is obvious that they were not interested in providing the promised conditions for ticket and accommodation, hence they found a good opportunity to take advantage of this. Honestly, I am very surprised at why people are sharing or commenting on this story because it is zero information from the other side,” wrote Azerbaijani Grandmaster Gadir Guseinov.