TASHKENT BANK ENDS TRANSACTIONS WITH BREAKAWAY AZERI REGION AFTER NOTE – TV
Ceyhun Rzayev, Afat Telmanqizi, ANS

ANS TV, Baku
21 May 06

[Presenter] An Uzbek bank has presented Nagornyy Karabakh as an
independent state. Tashkent corrected its mistake following the
intervention by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and it was possible
to end the presentation of Nagornyy Karabakh as an independent state
in documents.

[Correspondent, over video of scenes in Uzbekistan, Tagizada
speaking] A diplomatic scandal has emerged between Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan. A bank in Tashkent which deals with money transfers to
CIS countries showed Nagornyy Karabakh as an independent state in all
its documents. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had to interfere and
send a note to Tashkent.

The head of the press and information department of the ministry,
Tahir Tagizada, told ANS that Baku held talks with the appropriate
Uzbek authorities. Only after that the name of Nagornyy Karabakh was
removed from advertisement posters and its presentation as a separate
state was stopped.

The Uzbek side officially declared that it had ended all transactions
with Nagornyy Karabakh and any other occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani embassy in Uzbekistan also sent a note
to the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.

The incident happened when Tural joint-stock commercial bank [as heard]
showed Nagornyy Karabakh as a separate republic on its advertisement
posters in Tashkent late April. The Azerbaijani embassy in Uzbekistan
held talks with staff of the bank to discuss the issue.

As a result of the talks, the staff said that they had made no direct
transactions with the occupied Azerbaijani territories. They said
that the bank made transfers [to Karabakh] through a Russian bank,
the name of which was not specified.