Azeri speaker voices strong objections to Armenian officers’ visit to Baku

Ayna, Baku
8 Sep 04

Five Armenian officers will arrive in Baku in the afternoon on
12 September. According to information that we have obtained from
military sources, a minibus has been allocated for them to move around
the city. The report says that the Azerbaijani Defence, Interior
and National Security ministries have started to carry out a plan
of measures to ensure security of foreign servicemen due to attend
the NATO [Cooperative Best Effort 2004] exercises. Special people
will accompany foreign servicemen during the exercises. No actions
of protest during the Cooperative Best Effort exercises on 13-26
September will be allowed. A source in the law-enforcement agencies
said that police officers are being seriously instructed on this.

Two high-ranking Armenian officers (a general and a colonel) are
expected to attend VIP events due at the end of the exercises. The
low-ranking officers will stay at the Qaraheybat test range, while
the high-tanking officers will be staying at Hotel Europe and the
Hyatt Regency Hotel. [Passage omitted: reported details.]

Azerbaijani official circles refuse to disclose information about the
number of Armenian officers [due to arrive in Baku]. For instance,
the head of the A zerbaijani Defence Ministry press service, Ramiz
Malikov, said in an interview with our newspaper that the number
will be known only in the run-up to the exercises. Malikov thinks
that their number will be less than the mentioned one.

Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov made a statement at the parliament’s plenary
session yesterday [7 September] denouncing the participation of
Armenian officers in the NATO exercises due in Baku. He said: “NATO
will never resolve the Karabakh problem. The alliance is trying to
establish a base for itself. NATO intends to enter the Caucasus.”

The speaker said he understood people’s anxiety and added that “the
killers of our children cannot enter Azerbaijan”. Alasgarov said
that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry should be seriously engaged in
the issue.

“Armenians have occupied our lands. By coming to Baku, they want to
boast. Of course, every sober-minded citizen of our country cannot
reconcile to such a disgrace. I understand people’s protest, but
everything should be carried out reasonably. The talks with NATO’s
leadership are necessary. I regard the military exercises inopportune,”
Alasgarov said.