Azeri MPs urge NATO to cancel Armenian servicemen’s visit to Baku

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
10 Sep 04

The Azerbaijani parliament today appealed to NATO Secretary-General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer over Armenian servicemen’s attendance at the
Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercises.

Given the results of Armenia’s aggressive policy against Azerbaijan
and the non-fulfilment of the UN Security Council’s four resolutions
[on Nagornyy Karabakh] by official Yerevan, the appeal reads that
the NATO leadership’s invitation to Armenian military officers to
attend the Baku-hosted exercises at this moment has caused a strong
reaction. It is quite clear that this decision, the consequences of
which have not been fully considered, may extremely aggravate the
situation in the region that is rather tense, end quote.

The Azerbaijani parliament stresses that protests against this
decision are not based on ethnic views because more than 20,000
ethnic Armenians currently live in Baku alone. Explaining these
protests by the suffering caused by the Armenian occupiers to the
Azerbaijani people, MPs express their decisive protest against
Armenian officers’ participation in the Azerbaijan-hosted military
exercises. The parliament hopes that this unconsidered decision, which
could undermine NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation and talks on the peaceful
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, will be reversed.