NATO cancel Azerbaijan exercise after dispute over Armenian officers

AP Worldstream
Sep 13, 2004

NATO canceled military exercises scheduled to start Monday in
Azerbaijan after authorities there objected to the participation of
Armenian officers, alliance officials said.

The two-week peacekeeping maneuvers were to involve small units from
several NATO allies and former Soviet bloc nations included in the
alliance’s “Partnership for Peace” outreach program.

NATO officials said such exercises must be open to troops from all
members of the alliance and its partners.

They said alliance Supreme Commander Gen. James L. Jones canceled the
maneuvers after complaints from Azeri authorities over the planned
participation of Armenian officers.

Tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia remain high after a 1988-1992
war between the Caucasian neighbors, and they still dispute authority
over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The enclave, located within Azerbaijan, has been under control of
ethnic Armenian forces for more than a decade. A cease-fire was signed
in 1994 after Azerbaijani forces were driven out, but the enclave’s
final status has not been resolved and shooting still breaks out
sporadically along the “line of control” that separates the enclave
from the rest of Azerbaijan.

On Friday, the Azeri parliament adopted a message sent to NATO
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer protesting the inclusion of
Armenian soldiers and warning it could inflame tensions in the region
and harm relations between Azerbaijan and the Atlantic alliance.

President Ilham Aliev also reportedly opposed the inclusion of the
soldiers, and several dozen protesters took to the streets of the
capital, Baku, on Friday.

NATO officials declined to say how many troops were expected to take
part in exercise Cooperative Best Effort 2004, which follows similar
maneuvers held in the last two years in Armenia and Georgia. The
2003 exercises in Armenia involved around 400 troops from 19
nations. Azerbaijan refused to take part.