Yerevan-Based Canadian Journalist Neil Hauer Denied Entry to Turkey, Suspects Azerbaijan’s Involvement

ISTANBUL — Canadian journalist Neil Hauer who was denied entry to Turkey as a tourist at an İstanbul airport over the weekend due to an “entry ban” has said he suspects Azerbaijan’s involvement due to his extensive and critical reporting on the acts of the Azerbaijani government in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkish Minute reports.

Yerevan-based journalist Neil Hauer, who covers issues related to Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus for international news outlets such as CNN, The Guardian and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBS), announced the details of his deportation from İstanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport on X on Sunday.

Hauer said he was taken aside at passport control upon his arrival at the airport on Saturday and informed that he was “on the blacklist,” detained for 16 hours and ultimately deported back to Yerevan.

The journalist had previously visited Turkey without any difficulty, most recently in the summer of 2022.

An official document given to the journalist says he was denied entry due to an entry ban on him without citing any details.

Hauer said he is certain that the ban has something to do with his work as a journalist, although he is not certain what could have prompted it.

“I rarely report on Turkey, and not on Kurdish or Gulenist issues, the normal cause of foreign journalists having problems there. Considering this, I strongly suspect this ban has been made at Azerbaijan’s request, or at least involvement. I have reported extensively on Azerbaijan’s activities in Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic cleansing carried out by the Aliyev regime, which has won me no friends there,” said Hauer.

Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, backed its campaign to drive ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh last year.