Iveta Mukuchyan from Armenia stirred up controversy during tonight’s semi final after she waved the Nagorno-Karabakh flag during the voting recap. When a Swedish journalist from national tabloid Aftonbladet asked her about it at the press conference, the Armenian representative explained that she “just wants peace on the borders”.

The region, disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the cause of an open conflict between the two countries. The question was an important point in the press conference, and both Iveta and Samra were asked about it. About the flag, Iveta said that her country “wants peace” and that’s why she wrote her entry “LoveWave”. “I want to spread the LoveWave, I want people to concentrate on that”, she added.

Iveta said that she was expecting this question and asked not to forget that she is representing her country, heart, thoughts and with her feelings, her whole emotions. “Even though 150 million people are watching, my thoughts are with my motherland”, she said.

Later, Samra from Azerbaijan was approached to respond to the incident. An Azerbajiani journalist made a statement on Iveta’s action, saying “Rising the flag of an internationally recognised part of Azerbaijan is completely contrary to the international legal norms and principles, and I hope that the Eurovision committee will take serious measures on this question”.

However, Samra and the Azerbaijan delegation didn’t want to comment on the issue, and rather reminded that “Eurovision is a song contest, and it’s all about music”.

What do you make of the incident? Do you think the Eurovision Song Contest is an appropriate platform to raise political issues? Leave your comments below.

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