Extremism “rearing its ugly head” in Azerbaijan – Armenian MP

Arminfo
24 Sep 04

Yerevan

Under the new president of Azerbaijan, extremist forces have “reared
their ugly head” and become more active in that country, Vahan
Ovanesyan, deputy speaker of the Armenian National Assembly and a
member of the bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation –
Dashnaktsutyun ARFD , said during a press conference at the National
Press Club today.

He said that the latest frequent firefights on the border are not
necessarily coordinated from Baku, but there is no doubt that there
were much fewer cases of the sort under Azerbaijan’s ex-President
Heydar Aliyev.

Vaan Ovanesyan did not rule out that Baku has made a certain secret
decision to gradually “freeze” Azerbaijan’s cooperation with NATO, and
the refusal to allow Armenian officers to attend NATO exercises served
as an opportunity to implement this decision. “It is obvious that
under Ilham Aliyev, extremists have become more daring, and it cannot
be ruled out that extremists are using the Azerbaijani president’s
support. He will not dare to issue a direct order to resume the
hostilities, but the situation might get out of hand at any moment,”
the MP said.