YERKRAMAS: BAKU AGAIN TRIES TO DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN COSSACKS AND ARMENIANS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.10.2008 17:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan is again attempting to drive a wedge
between Cossacks and Armenians, the editor-in-chief of Yerkramas, the
newspaper of Armenians of Russia, Tigran Tavadyan said when commenting
on the interview Viktor Mereshkin, the head of Association of Cossacks
of Azerbaijan, gave to Day.az internet portal.

"Mereshkin tried to revive the rumors spread by the Azeri and
Turkish propagandists in 1990-ies about Armenians’ claims to
Russian territories, specifically the city of Armavir in Krasnodar
region. Following the instructions of the Azeri special services,
Mereshkin as if reminds of the unsuccessful attempt to set Armenian and
Cossacks of Kuban at loggerheads in early 1990-ies, when anti-Armenian
leaflets were circulated throughout the region," he said.

"However, fraternal relations between Cossacks and Armenians started
during the Russian-Turkish wars and strengthened with time. The
Cossacks take part in annual Armenian Genocide commemorating events,
inauguration of a monument to Cossacks in Yerevan and, finally, the
visit of Cossacks of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Transnistria, South
Ossetia and Abkhazia to Yerevan and Stepanakert, where a trilateral
agreement on cooperation was signed," Tavadyan concluded.