Baku Today
July 28 2004

Baku Sets Preconditions for Armenian Officer’s Participation in NATO
Exercises

A top Azeri diplomat on Tuesday said that while his country has
nothing against Armenian officer’s planned participation in
Azerbaijan-hosted NATO exercises scheduled for September, it has
certain preconditions.

`We have set conditions that [the Armenian officers] have to be the
people who have not been involved in military operations against
Azerbaijan,’ Deputy Azeri Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told
reporters.

Azimov added that only about three Armenian officers are expected to
attend the military exercises and that they are a military
journalist, a public relations officer and a doctor.

However, Armenia’s Arminfo news agency reported the same day that the
coming Armenian officers will number seven.

Armenian Deputy Defense Minister, General-Mayor Artur Agabekyan, told
Arminfo that five Armenian officers will be directly involved in the
exercises and two more senior Armenian officers will attend the NATO
exercises as official guests.