TURKEY BLOCKS GUN SHIPMENT TO ARMENIA

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
July 27 2007

Turkey turned back an Albanian ship transporting heavy weaponry bound
for Armenia at the Bosporus, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has
announced, according to news reports that appeared in the Azerbaijani
press on Thursday.

"Officials in Ankara have refused transit to a sizeable consignment
of weapons and ammunition bound for Armenia. The ship was turned back
at the Bosporus along with its cargo," Berisha was quoted as saying
in Azerbaijani media, according to the private ANKA news agency.

Berisha said 60 containers of heavy weaponry on the ship, mostly
artillery, had departed from Albania’s Durres port on its journey to
Armenia. The ship was currently docked in Durres, he said.

Azerbaijani newspapers wrote that a little while ago the Armenian
Ministry of Defense contacted officials at the Albanian Ministry of
Defense and ordered a significant amount of land and anti-aircraft
artillery with calibers ranging between 75 to 122 mm.

An arms company named MEIKO had legal permission from the Albanian
Ministry of Defense to ship the weaponry, according to the reports.

Officials from MEIKO were quoted as saying Albania was not a side in
the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The sale of weaponry had
been conducted in compliance with the law and all legal procedures
had been observed, the officials said.