Azeris tell Europe cooperation with Armenia impossible until troops withdrawn

Assa-Irada, Baku
7 Oct 04

The session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
[PACE] today discussed the fight against international terrorism being
carried out by its member countries.

[Passage omitted: details of speech by a Russian MP on terrorism]

Azerbaijani MPs delivered reports on terrorist acts committed by
Armenians in the country [Azerbaijan]. Asim Mollazada, a member of the
Azerbaijani delegation, said: “It is interesting that Russia is
raising this question now and the speaker is from Russia. Russia is a
great power, not a small state like Azerbaijan or Georgia. These small
states have been suffering from terrorism and aggressive separatism
for many years. Aggressive separatism should be named as one of the
main sources of terrorism.” He also said that the victims of the
Xocali tragedy committed by Armenians [26 February 1992] also had had
to face terrorism, but the culprits have not been punished yet.

PACE Secretary-General Bruno Haller and President Peter Schieder did
not touch upon the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands and proposed a
new meeting between the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian
delegations.

“Azerbaijan sees no need for such a meeting,” the head of the
Azerbaijani delegation, Samad Seyidov, said. He added that the
proposals by Haller and Schieder envisaged cooperation between the
South Caucasus countries.

The Azerbaijani delegation stated that any form of cooperation with
Armenia is impossible until they pull out from [occupied] Azerbaijani
lands, Seyidov said.