AZERI DEPUTY SPEAKER BLAMES ARMENIA FOR POLICY OF "TERROR"

Yeni Azarbaycan
April 11 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Deputy Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov has accused Armenia of
supporting terrorism and choosing terror as its state policy in an
interview with Yeni Azarbaycan newspaper, the organ of the ruling
New Azerbaijan Party.

"Terror is Armenia’s state policy and this country backs terrorism
wherever it is," he said, alleging that Armenia had recently given
weapons worth 2m-dollars to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or the PKK.

In response to remarks made by the Armenian president in his
inauguration address that no compromises were possible over the
Nagornyy Karabakh issue, Asgarov described it as another attempt to
divert the attention from the current heavy situation in Armenia.

Commenting on whether or not Sargsyan’s statement will affect the
Nagornyy Karabakh talks, the deputy speaker said that unless such
a policy is stopped Armenia’s existence as a state would be called
into question, the paper said.

The deputy speaker added that a draft law on amendments and addenda
to the Electoral Code will soon be submitted to parliament, adding
that it would be impossible to establish the electoral commissions on
parity basis. He also dismissed as groundless remarks made by OSCE’s
Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos Haraszti concerning
the media situation in Azerbaijan, the article said.