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ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENTS DUKE IT OUT IN MOSCOW: LOCAL PAPER
epress.am
12.27.2011
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev
respectively, on Dec. 19 at a reception in the Grand Kremlin Palace
on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the CIS (Commonwealth of
Independent States), got into a brawl, reports local daily Haykakan
Jamanak ("Armenian Times"), citing its sources in Moscow.
To mark the occasion, medals were to be awarded to one diplomat from
each country, with the unanimous consent of all CIS leaders.
Representatives of all states received their medals, but when it was
Armenian representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan's
turn, Ilham Aliyev objected and Kocharyan didn't receive the medal.
Only moments ago, it was Azerbaijan's representative's turn to receive
his medal, which Serzh Sargsyan had not contested.
Then, sitting at the table, Azerbaijan's president began to reprimand
Sargsyan's choice of candidate to receive the award. Aliyev said
Kocharyan's public criticism of Azerbaijan's leadership is not
conducive to the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Serzh Sargsyan retorted with similar charges against the head of
Aliyev's administration and Azerbaijan's diplomats, asserting that
they hinder the settlement process with their statements. The argument
reached a point where the two state leaders stood up and started to
push each other, assuming combat positions and preparing for a fight,
reports the paper. Only the intervention of Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev, with his "Gentlemen, what are you doing?" cooled them off
and they assumed their seats.
The newspaper reports that it was unable to get a comment from Serzh
Sargsyan's press secretary Armen Arzumanyan on the incident. It was
also unable to receive details from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
office.
"Our Moscow sources confirm that such an incident really took place,"
Haykakan Jamanak sums up.
epress.am
12.27.2011
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev
respectively, on Dec. 19 at a reception in the Grand Kremlin Palace
on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the CIS (Commonwealth of
Independent States), got into a brawl, reports local daily Haykakan
Jamanak ("Armenian Times"), citing its sources in Moscow.
To mark the occasion, medals were to be awarded to one diplomat from
each country, with the unanimous consent of all CIS leaders.
Representatives of all states received their medals, but when it was
Armenian representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan's
turn, Ilham Aliyev objected and Kocharyan didn't receive the medal.
Only moments ago, it was Azerbaijan's representative's turn to receive
his medal, which Serzh Sargsyan had not contested.
Then, sitting at the table, Azerbaijan's president began to reprimand
Sargsyan's choice of candidate to receive the award. Aliyev said
Kocharyan's public criticism of Azerbaijan's leadership is not
conducive to the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Serzh Sargsyan retorted with similar charges against the head of
Aliyev's administration and Azerbaijan's diplomats, asserting that
they hinder the settlement process with their statements. The argument
reached a point where the two state leaders stood up and started to
push each other, assuming combat positions and preparing for a fight,
reports the paper. Only the intervention of Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev, with his "Gentlemen, what are you doing?" cooled them off
and they assumed their seats.
The newspaper reports that it was unable to get a comment from Serzh
Sargsyan's press secretary Armen Arzumanyan on the incident. It was
also unable to receive details from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
office.
"Our Moscow sources confirm that such an incident really took place,"
Haykakan Jamanak sums up.