The provincial hall of Turkey’s Tunceli Province has banned the Armenian folk music ensemble Veradardz (Return) from performing at the 23rd Munzur Culture and Nature Festival in Tunceli, reports ermenihaber.am.

The respective explanation by the provincial hall stated that the Veradardz Folk Ensemble had participated in the 19th Munzur Culture and Nature Festival in 2019 and had waved the Armenian national flag at the event. And this was presented as a deviation from the stated objectives of this event.

In addition, the Tunceli provincial hall barred—because of “[Kurdish] terrorist propaganda”—two non-Armenian ensembles from participating in this festival. These ensembles were informed only at the last minute that their performance was prohibited.