Azeri security ministry sacks officers of Armenian origin – paper

525 Qazet, Baku
15 Jun 05

Text of I. Qasimli report by Azerbaijani newspaper 525 Qazet on 15
June headlined “Those who have Armenian relatives dismissed from the
National Security Ministry” and subheaded “A ministry official says
people of Armenian origin cannot work in the ministry”

Several employees of the National Security Ministry have been dismissed
on orders from Minister Eldar Mahmudov, an informed source has told
525 Qazet.

The employees were sacked because one of their parents or other close
relatives are of Armenian origin, the source said. There were officers
among the dismissed.

“This is Azerbaijan and people of Armenian origin and those who have
Armenian relatives cannot work at the National Security Ministry,”
Arif Babayev, head of the ministry’s public relations department,
said to explain the decision.

This purge is the first ever carried out in the ministry. Former
National Security Minister Namiq Abbasov admitted in one of his
interviews that there were people of Armenian origin among the ministry
employees, but said that he did not plan to sack them. Abbasov said
that this illustrated that there was no ethnic discrimination in
Azerbaijan.