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Azeri daily forecasts new government attacks on Norwegian envoy
Azadliq, Baku
25 Jun 04
Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq on 25
June headlined "Another failure of Ilham's diplomacy", subheaded "The
Norwegian prime minister's presence at an exhibition in PACE devoted
to the so-called Armenian genocide provides a pretext for Ilham to
launch a new campaign of attacks on Steinar Gil"
Relations between the current Azerbaijani and Norwegian governments,
which cooled in the run-up to the 2003 presidential elections, are
turning sour again. According to our report, government circles will
misuse a step taken by the Norwegian government during the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] session. It
will launch a new campaign of attacks on the Norwegian ambassador in
Azerbaijan, Steinar Gil, and even plans to declare him persona
non-grata.
To recap, the main reason for the coolness in relations was the
activity of the Norwegian government and ambassador Gil to protect the
democratic forces from government violence before and after the
elections. The government of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev was
so displeased with the Norwegians that later the visiting Norwegian
deputy foreign minister was not even received by the Azerbaijani
president. Subsequently, individual government representatives
levelled accusations against Norwegian ambassador Gil.
It seems that the Aliyev government has not forgotten the "old
hostility" and intends again to step up the campaign against the
Norwegian government, thinking that it has the chance to do this. The
pretext for this is the Norwegian prime minister's attendance at an
exhibition in PACE devoted to the so-called Armenian genocide and his
meeting with [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan.
Azadliq, Baku
25 Jun 04
Text of unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq on 25
June headlined "Another failure of Ilham's diplomacy", subheaded "The
Norwegian prime minister's presence at an exhibition in PACE devoted
to the so-called Armenian genocide provides a pretext for Ilham to
launch a new campaign of attacks on Steinar Gil"
Relations between the current Azerbaijani and Norwegian governments,
which cooled in the run-up to the 2003 presidential elections, are
turning sour again. According to our report, government circles will
misuse a step taken by the Norwegian government during the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] session. It
will launch a new campaign of attacks on the Norwegian ambassador in
Azerbaijan, Steinar Gil, and even plans to declare him persona
non-grata.
To recap, the main reason for the coolness in relations was the
activity of the Norwegian government and ambassador Gil to protect the
democratic forces from government violence before and after the
elections. The government of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev was
so displeased with the Norwegians that later the visiting Norwegian
deputy foreign minister was not even received by the Azerbaijani
president. Subsequently, individual government representatives
levelled accusations against Norwegian ambassador Gil.
It seems that the Aliyev government has not forgotten the "old
hostility" and intends again to step up the campaign against the
Norwegian government, thinking that it has the chance to do this. The
pretext for this is the Norwegian prime minister's attendance at an
exhibition in PACE devoted to the so-called Armenian genocide and his
meeting with [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan.