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The second day of the 86th NATO Parliamentary Assembly Rose-Roth seminar titled “The South Caucasus: Challenges and Opportunities” was marked by scandal. In particular, representatives of Azerbaijan threatened “to punish” Armenian MP, Tevan Poghosyan’s father, sounded offences in address of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan as well as the former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, and called Armenia a “terrorist state.”

In their turn, the Armenian delegation reminded about the Sumgait massacres, openly accused Azerbaijan of beginning the Karabakh conflict and militarization.

According to the Azerbaijani news agency “APA”, Armenian delegation member Tevan Poghosyan accused Azerbaijan of conducting massacres against Armenian population of Sumgait in 1988. In response, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the NATO PA, first deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafet Asgarov suddenly announced that the Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office conducts an investigation against Tevan Poghosyan’s father, who has allegedly committed "bloody crimes" against Azerbaijanis in Karabakh.

“Your father, the murderer, will soon be found through Interpol and punished. You will see it very soon,” Asgarov said.

Turning to the topic of Sumgait events Asgarov stated that “these events were triggered by the Soviet KGB” and “by your Grigoryan.”
As “APA” states, the head of the Armenian delegation to NATO PA Koryun Nahapetyan openly accused Azerbaijan. He stated that over the last 7 years Azerbaijan's military budget has increased by 20 times, noting that this is a real threat in the region. He demanded a harsh reaction of the NATO PA in this regard.

Later on, Armenian MP Tevan Poghosyan accused Azerbaijan of instigating the Karabakh conflict. Tevan Poghosyan said that on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union a large amount of weapons and ammunition remained in Azerbaijan and Baku used these weapons.

Then the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the NATO PA, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Ziyafat Asgarov took the floor. He stated that the “Armenian delegation has been making a provocation in Baku” and tries “to blacken Azerbaijan in front of the NATO PA.” Further on, Asgarov turned to the Assembly representatives with a question, whether “a state the 20% of territory of which is occupied should increase its military budget or not.”

Azerbaijani MP stated that allegedly the Armenians “had organized more than 30 terrorist attacks” in Azerbaijan and had committed “the Khojalu genocide.” He also referred to a list of Armenian officers allegedly “wanted by Interpol.”

Asgarov demanded NATO PA to highlight the given “facts.” Head of the Azerbaijani delegation demanded the expulsion of the Armenian delegation from the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. This requirement Asgarov substantiated by the fact that NATO had suspended the relations with Russia and had deprived of the right to vote in NATO PA for two years. And Asgarov is concerned with the fact that Armenia is not yet excluded from this structure.

According to the Azerbaijani news agency “1news.az” Asgarov stated allegedly Armenia “conducts terror on state level,” and called the Armenian presidents “terrorists.”

According to the news agency, the head of the Armenian delegation to NATO PA Koryun Nahapetyan noted that in the military sphere Azerbaijan violates international limits, including the OSCE requirements.

Azerbaijani MP Zahid Oruc stated that “Azerbaijan is not intended to turn into a militarist state,” but he is “forced to.”

According to the Azerbaijani news portal Haqqin.az, during the workshop, the head of the Azerbaijani Institute of Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus turned to Colonel Elmar Samedov, head of military strategy and defense department of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. She noted that each year dozens of soldiers die in Azerbaijani Armed Forces and those deaths are not caused by the Armenian snipers.

"The army is mired in corruption, although it is supposed to be professional. Colonel Samedov is supposed to talk about creating a professional army," said Leyla Yunus.

News portal also notes that members of the Armenian delegation Richard Giragosian, Tevan Poghosyan and Koryun Nahapetyan were present at the official dinner in the Azerbaijani parliament and raised a toast to the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Director of the Regional Studies Center, analyst Richard Giragosian was also participating in Rose-Roth seminar. He wrote about the toast on his Twitter microblog.