Ayna, Azerbaijan
Oct 17 2009

Azeri opposition condemns removal of Turkish flags in Baku

A major opposition party in Azerbaijan has condemned the authorities
for removing Turkish flags from a memorial site in the capital Baku on
16 October.

Musavat said in a statement that the removal of the flags from the
memorial to Turkish soldiers killed during the First World War was a
sign of "political immaturity".

"This reaction to the tension in political relations [between
Azerbaijan and Turkey] is not only a malicious attitude but also
political immaturity," reads the statement published by the
independent daily Ayna on 17 October.

Musavat said that the move also constituted an "insult" to the Turkish
people, and demanded that the flags be reinstalled.

An official of Baku’s Sabail district, where the memorial is located,
denied the removal of the flags was political. Israfil Karimov was
quoted as saying that the flags were taken down in accordance with the
law on foreign flags.

The incident came amid growing tension between Baku and Ankara over
the Turkish government’s efforts to normalize relations with Armenia.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have yet to resolve their differences over
Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagornyy Karabakh.