From correspondents in Baku, Azerbaijan
June 22, 2004
A NATO conference in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan was disrupted today when hardline nationalists tried to storm the hotel where the meeting was taking place.
Police arrested 12 demonstrators, who were protesting against the presence at the conference of two servicemen from the neighbouring country of Armenia.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are officially in a state of war after fighting in the early 1990s over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
About 30 demonstrators broke through a police cordon outside the venue for the meeting, a hotel in the Azeri capital, Baku, and smashed the glass door of the conference hall, witnesses at the scene told AFP.
They were prevented from getting into the hall by the hotel’s security guards and were later detained by police. The meeting was suspended for five minutes as a result of the disturbance.
Earlier, the protesters had marched through Baku carrying placards with the slogans: “Armenians Out!” and “The Armenian criminals have the blood of our people on their hands.”
“We will continue this protest action all day,” said Akif Nagi, who led the demonstration. “Our aim is to force the Armenians to leave the conference.”
The conference is being held to prepare for a training exercise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, called “Cooperative Best Effort,” which is due to take place in Azerbaijan later this year.
The conference is being attended by delegates from 24 NATO member states and partner countries, including the two Armenian officers.
Yorumlar kapatıldı.