AZERI LEADER DISMISSES ARMENIAN GRAVESTONE REPORTS AS “ABSOLUTE LIE”

ANS TV, Baku
13 Apr 06

[Presenter] Azerbaijan is capable of defending its national interests
and liberating its territory. This is our sovereign right. If the peace
talks yield no results, we shall resort to other means, President Ilham
Aliyev has said in Saki. ANS TV’s Saki bureau special correspondent
Xatira Akparova has the details.

[Correspondent] Today the president attended the opening of
a park-museum named after Heydar Aliyev. After the ceremony the
president made a speech.

[Passage omitted: correspondent quotes Aliyev as commenting on claims
of destruction of Armenian monuments in Naxcivan]

[President Ilham Aliyev, captioned] As you know some circles in
Armenia, the Armenian lobby, and some hypocritical politicians who
are under their thumb, have recently alleged that Armenian tomb stones
in Naxcivan are being destroyed.

This is an absolute lie, slanderous information, a fairytale. All
historic monuments are being preserved in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is
noted for its tolerance. Representatives of all ethnic groups and
religions live here as one family. Yesterday I visited the Georgian
church in Qax.

[Correspondent] The president noted that the main aim of his
visits is to check whether his instructions regarding the economic
development of the regions are being implemented by the local executive
authorities. In his speech, the president also noted that a thermal
power plant with a capacity of 87 MWh, which is under construction,
will be commissioned in Saki. It will provide Saki and the region
with electricity.

[Passage omitted: sightseeing in Saki, the visit continues].