by Reza Ganjavi
This is a warning to Swiss citizens who maybe depending on the embassy in Azerbaijan, about my bad experience with this embassy's can't do attitude and passing the buck. And when I called it out, when the going got tough, they apparently resorted to fiction to justify their can't do attitude. The lesson is: if you are stuck and need help from the embassy and they tell you "we don't", insist and don't take their No as an answer. It may turn out that they Can but just felt like saying "we can't" because of apparently laziness or ?
The context is: I was in Iran and the war broke out, and the airport was closed and I needed to leave of an important engagement abroad and I decided to leave by land. I got a visa for Azerbaijan. There was nothing said about the Astara border being closed. So I went there, but they required a "code" - a number on a letter from the foreign ministry that they explained is obtained via the embassy of Switzerland which requests it from the Azeri foreign ministry. So I called the embassy but René Huber said "we don't do that" and told me to contact the Azeri embassy in Bern. Long story short this led to a lot of trouble and hassle and huge distress which was totally unnecessary. Finally the same person who told me they don't do that, did it, and he knew perfectly well what to do. Here's a letter to him:
~~~
Dear Mr. René Huber
Many thanks for the message. Yes I made it out of Iran. Although I'm not in Switzerland now, and I may return to Iran when the airspace opens because of personal reasons despite it being deemed unsafe by the Swiss Federal government.
One big lesson I learned is that traveling by land in and out of the country should be avoided. I went through hell at the border city and much of it could have been avoided if the Swiss embassy in Baku had acted on my initial request, which it could have but gave be a "can't do" instead. The day after I was speaking with the Azeri embassy in English from the street which was not the right thing to do because it raises suspicions in this highly tense environment. That cost me 5 hours of very scary interrogation which ended positively because they found nothing against me as I have no political activities -- but that was an experience no human should ever go through - it was painful and miserable - and could have been avoided. It was totally unnecessary for me to talk to the Azeri embassy in Bern as you said I should.
Yes, I realized that this border is not the best border to exit from, although there were many people like me, and the Azeri government didn't provide any information about the letter "code" that was necessary when I obtained a visa.
And yes I told you code which can be obtained from the foreign ministry because that's what they call it at the border which refers to a control number on the letter. The Azeri border Police told me to contact you, The Swiss embassy in Baku, in order to obtain that letter. And that's what I did, and your immediate response was that you can't do - you don't do that - but in reality you do, and you ended up doing.
You incorrectly stated in your email of 3 July 2025 that I mentioned to you that the Visa that I applied for. That's half the truth. The other half is that I received the Visa -- so I didn't have to do any further dealing with the Azeri government. It was the Swiss embassy's job to ask for the letter. I already had the visa.
I also didn't ask you for Visa requirements or anything like that. Your immediate reaction was that you can't do. But in reality you could have. And that would have saved me a lot of trouble.
You didn't need to refer me to the Azerbaijan embassy in Switzerland Which is I think what you mean by saying Azerbaijan embassy in Azerbaijan, which doesn't exist.
If you knew what I'm asking for, you could have organized it without passing the buck to the Azari embassy and them having to ask you which was totally unnecessary. They did not need to ask you to do anything for a Swiss citizen. It was enough that a Swiss citizen asked you to do that. You only did it after they asked you - which was not necessary.
So I give you the benefit of doubt that you didn't know what I was asking for, but your email after the Azeri embassy asked you to act made it sound that you knew exactly what was required and knew exactly how to do it.
Your answer to my question doesn't make that clear. You're neither taking ownership of the fact that I got a can't do on something that could have been done and was eventually done -- nor you're admitting that you didn't know what was necessary and gave the can't do based on that lack of knowledge. Furthermore, it's troubling that you're using a fictional story as justification for referring me to the Azeri embassy in Bern: that I asked you how to get a visa -- but you know perfectly well that that is not true Mr. Huber: I clearly stated to you that I already have an Azeri visa !!
The consequence of your "can't do" attitude was that I had to ask a friend in Switzerland to take a long train to Bern since the Azeri embassy in Bern did not answer phone calls even during business hours. And many hours of stress that was totally unnecessary. And the unfortunate painful event described above which could have been totally avoided if it weren't for your can't do attitude and passing the buck.
I still give you the benefit of doubt but your trying to justify your action using fictions and auxiliary arguments doesn't help that. Perhaps this served as a learning experience for you that before giving a quick can't do and passing the buck, take some time because it may turn out that you can do - as this case proves. You could do but at a huge cost for me and a Swiss friend that could have been avoided.
I rest my case.
Best regards
Reza Ganjavi, MBA, Swiss Citizen