Azeri pundits against Armenian officers’ presence at Baku-hosted NATO
meeting

Ekspress, Baku
23 Jun 04

Text of Telman report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on 23 June
headlined “Armenians pursue certain goals in coming to Baku” and
subheaded “According to experts, they are trying to disrupt the NATO
event”

Armenian officers have attended a regular NATO conference which was
held in Baku within the framework of the Partnership for Peace
programme.

Political expert Aydin Agayev thinks that the Armenian officers tried
to disrupt the conference by attending it and damage relations between
our country and this bloc. [Unclear sentence omitted]

Agayev thinks that refusal to cooperate with leading organizations
will bring about Azerbaijan’s isolation as is the case with
neighbouring Iran. However, our interviewee said he was tired of those
organizations’ biased statements and double standards.

Political expert Xaladdin Ibrahimli described the green light to the
Armenians’ arrival in Baku as a mistake.

“I cannot understand how the Armenian officers who have occupied our
lands are allowed to come to Azerbaijan?”

The political experts think that not only individuals, but also
society itself – politicians, NGOs, the intelligentsia and journalists
– should oppose such cases.

The chairman of the supreme council of the Democratic Party of
Azerbaijan [DPA], Nuraddin Mammadli, thinks that protest actions over
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem are not sufficient. However, the DPA
member, who regards cooperation with NATO on military service as
important, does not want to see Azerbaijan and Armenia in the same
organization.

“According to the alliance’s regulations, its member countries should
not attack each other. Under these circumstances, the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem will become less important,” Mammadli said.