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BAKU: KLO vows not to let Armenians attend NATO exercises

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  • BAKU: KLO vows not to let Armenians attend NATO exercises

    Azeri pressure group vows not to let Armenians attend NATO exercises

    Ekho, Baku
    3 Jul 04


    Text of E. Alakbarov report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 3 July
    headlined "'No special attention is to be paid to the Armenians'" and
    subheaded "The Karabakh Liberation Organization is to spare no efforts
    to prevent the Armenian flag from being hoisted and the anthem from
    being played in Azerbaijan in September"

    As we have already reported, Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan
    has said that seven Armenian officers will take part in the
    Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercises due in Baku in September 2004
    within NATO's Partnership for Peace programme. Meanwhile, talking
    about the September exercises, the head of the Armenian delegation
    which attended NATO's planning conference in Baku, Col Murad
    Isakhanyan, said that Armenia will take part in it as part of a
    military element. The NATO leadership, he said, made an exception for
    Armenia and did not impose restrictions on the number of its
    representatives or on their ranks.

    "In turn, Azerbaijan guarantees the security of our servicemen. The
    Azerbaijani side assures us that even if only one representative comes
    from Armenia, the Armenian flag will be hoisted and the anthem
    played," he said.

    Meanwhile, the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) has no intention
    of giving up the struggle. KLO deputy chairman Samil Mehdi commented
    on the Armenian officer's utterances. "We have information that the
    Armenians seriously intend to take part in NATO's September
    exercises," he said. The Armenian side manages to derive benefit from
    any situation, he said. "Yerevan manages to push forward its officers
    who have the blood of Azerbaijani officers on their hands. The
    Armenians also easily manage to provoke Azerbaijani society to
    confrontation and as a result, Azerbaijan is being discredited in the
    international arena," he stressed.

    "We always stick to our position. The KLO will take concrete steps if
    the Armenian officers arrive in Baku in September," he said.

    Talking about the Armenian officer's words that the Armenian flag will
    be raised and the anthem played in Baku in September, he said that the
    members of the organization will spare no efforts to prevent this from
    happening.

    "This is nasty, mendacious and vile Armenian swank," the head of the
    Azerbaijani Defence Ministry press service, Ramiz Malikov, said,
    commenting on the Armenian officer's words. "No special attention will
    be paid to the Armenian officers," he stressed.

    He said that the Armenian officers are coming to Baku to "muddy the
    waters". He complained about the local media which exaggerates
    reports about the Armenian officers' arrival.
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