ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri
10 Mar 04

Azerbaijan protests against chess tournament in occupied Karabakh

Baku has demanded explanation from Georgia, Russia, Iran, Latvia,
Poland and Switzerland as to why they are sending their
representatives to a chess tournament organized by Armenia in
Azerbaijan’s Nagornyy Karabakh under occupation, the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry said in a statement circulated today.

The statement said that the Azerbaijani sports public had called on
the World Chess Federation, FIDE, to appeal to Armenia which is
controlling Nagornyy Karabakh and other Azerbaijani territories under
occupation [to call off the tournament].

FIDE issued a statement saying that it would not recognize the
results of the tournament. Nevertheless the Armenian government and
the puppet establishment under its control did not want to miss the
chance of staging another propaganda show.

The organization of such tournament in the occupied Azerbaijani area
despite FIDE’s official warning is an obvious example of Armenia and
the separatist forces which it supports using sports for their dirty
tricks. The countries which sent their sportsmen to Nagornyy Karabakh
should realize that Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s integral part and any
events held in this area without Azerbaijan’s consent are illegal.