Azeri paper urges authorities to respond to British MP’s Karabakh visit

Yeni Musavat, Baku
20 Oct 04

Text of Qasqay report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 20
October headlined “English finger”

The love of the deputy speaker of the British House of Lords, Baroness
Caroline Cox, for Armenia is not new to anyone. When Baroness Caroline
Cox feels bored in Blighty, she heads for Stepanakert to admire the
fog-shrouded mountains of Susa Shusha . And it never occurred to the
Azerbaijani authorities over so many years to pull the plug on such
visits or say to the British authorities “Hands off Karabakh!”. It is
clear why they can’t prevent the visits – because Cox goes to Karabakh
via Armenia. But if the Azerbaijani authorities cannot throw a woman
out of Karabakh, let alone the Armenians, what is there left to talk
about?

The Aliyevs’ family of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev business
relations with the English are known. It is no secret that BP, which
serves the interests of this country, has staked on Ilham Aliyev. But
if they are friends, they should be able to listen to each other. The
authorities, for instance, carefully observe their commitments to BP.

However, in addition to the fact that Cox is strengthening relations
with the Karabakh separatists, the number of people who have jumped on
her bandwagon is also rising. According to reports, this time Cox was
accompanied by four other members of parliament on her trip to
Karabakh.

Last week the Azerbaijani foreign minister said a list of foreign
companies working in Karabakh was being compiled. To be more exact,
this transpired after his “sweet accent” was translated in our Azeri
reference to the fact that he does not speak good Azeri . Of course,
it is understandable that these companies are too big, that they are
hiding in the Karabakh mountains and that there is no way the
authorities can cope with them. But how about saying a few words to a
group of pro-Armenian Britons at the British embassy in Baku? They the
Azerbaijani authorities almost deported the Norwegian ambassador from
the country after he refused to remain tight-lipped about the October
post-election violence last year. Or is it too difficult a task for
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who is fluent in English, to send
a note to the embassy?

Let’s wait and see what Mammadyarov says. Of course, if we understand
what he says.