AZERBAIJANI DELEGATION REFUSED TO ARRIVE TO III REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS OF RUSSIAN COMPATRIOTS OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS COUNTRIES IN YEREVAN
ArmInfo
2009-04-28 16:20:00
The Azerbaijani delegation refused to arrive in Yerevan to participate
in III Regional conference of organizations of Russian compatriots
of the South Caucasus countries, Executive Director of the Fund of
Assistance and Contribution to Russian Compatriots Ivan Semyonov
said at today’s press-conference. He expressed concern over this
circumstance as, according to him, the Russian compatriots could also
contribute to rapprochement of the two peoples. I. Semyonov recalled
that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Prague
on May 7. Against this background, he thinks, the Russian Diaspora
of Azerbaijan had to show an example and assist in reconciliation of
the two countries. ‘I wonder that they refused to arrive in Yerevan’,
Semyonov said.
For his part, Chairman of the World Coordination Council of the
Russian compatriots Aleksey Lobanov said he would not make refusal
of the Azerbaijani delegation an absolute. He thinks this step was
caused by certain obstacles. ‘Of course, no measures will be taken
on this occasion.
We shall just talk to them for this case not to recur. I think we
should learn to talk to each other’, A. Lobanov said.
The third regional conference of organizations of Russian compatriots
of the South Caucasus countries was held in Yerevan on April
27-28. Delegations from Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, as
well as representatives of the Federal Assembly of Russian Federal
Council and Russian Foreign Ministry arrived in the Armenian capital to
participate in the conference. The main topics of the conference were
urgent problems of Russian compatriots and expatriates’ communities
in the South Caucasus region. The conference covered not only issues
of the Russian language status in the South Caucasus countries,
but also the problems in children’s studying their native language –
Russian, as well as literature and history of their ethnic motherland
– Russia at the educational establishments of the states of their
permanent residence.