Anadolu Agency, Turkey
July 19 2004

Alasgarov: Some Countries Use Double Standard Regarding Upper
Karabakh Issue

BAKU – Murtuz Alasgarov, the Chairman of the National Assembly of
Azerbaijan, said on Monday that some countries and international
organizations were using double standard regarding the Upper Karabakh
issue.

Meeting Turkish parliamentary delegation headed by Haluk Ipek, the
Chairman of Turkish-Azerbaijani Interparliamentary Friendship Group,
Alasgarov said that Armenia, who occupied a part of Azerbaijani
territory, should be qualified as ”aggressive”.

Recalling that co-chairmen of Minsk Group of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who had undertaken the
role of mediation in settlement of Upper Karabakh issue, completed
their visit to the region a few days ago, Alasgarov said, ”they are
making meaningless speeches. We are not pleased with the position of
the co-chairmen.”

Alasgarov stated that the co-chairmen did not tried to find a
realistic solution to the issue and stood unjustly beside Armenia.
Defining this attitude as a double standard, the Azerbaijani National
Assembly Chairman said that his country would fight for justice
whatever it costs.

Noting that his nation lost its patience and demand that Azerbaijani
territory should be gained back by other means, Alasgarov said, ”we
will do this if UN doesn’t adopt serious measures to find a
solution.”

Alasgarov defined bilateral relations between Turkish and Azerbaijani
parliaments as perfect, but said that they were working to further
improve these relations.

Haluk Ipek, in his part, said, ”Upper Karabakh is always on Turkey’s
list of topics” and noted that according to international law Upper
Karabakh was Azerbaijani territory.

Ipek said, ”This is a globally accepted fact. Today’s situation is
temporary.”