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Sergei Lebedev sends letter to Armenian Foreign Minister to refute his statement issued in Azerbaijan - AUDIO

Sergei Lebedev sends letter to Armenian Foreign Minister to refute his statement issued in Azerbaijan - <font color=red>AUDIO </font>

12 November 2010 12:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Some views expressed by CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev while talking to the journalists in Baku caused discontent in Armenia. APA reports that the Armenians particularly did not like Lebedevâ€™s expression â€œthe occupied territoriesâ€. Therefore, Sergei Lebedev hastily sent a letter of refutation to Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and said he had not issued such a statement, his views had been distorted by Azerbaijani journalists. The letter says:
â€œI also noted that CIS Executive Committee does not participate in the negotiations, therefore I am unaware of the essence of the negotiations and I can not speak about it. I officially inform you that the news released by some information agencies citing to me â€œWe are discussing the release of the occupied territories, establishment of the corridor between Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan, Karabakh and Armeniaâ€ is not true. I reiterate that I have cordial and constructive attitude towards the Armenian authorities in the context of the further strengthening of the CIS.â€

As seen from the letter of refutation Sergei Lebedev supposedly said to the journalists â€œI am unaware of the essence of the negotiations and can not speak about itâ€. He also tried to refute that he had used the expression â€œrelease of the occupied territoriesâ€. Taking this into account we bring to your notice the text of the audio recording of Sergei Lebedevâ€™s statement.

CIS executive secretary gave following response to the question about the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict: â€œAs you see, how the Russian leadership makes efforts for the settlement of this conflict. Tripartite meetings are held and such meetings have begun two years ago. The last tripartite meeting was held in Astrakhan. As you know, an agreement about repatriation of the captives and bodies was reached in that meeting. These are small steps forward and we are working to make these steps sustainable and to reach an agreement. This issue is also discussed, liberation of the occupied territories, creation of corridors between Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan, and between Karabakh and Armenia. There are a number of humanitarian issues on the tableâ€. (AUDIOTAPE IS ENCLOSED)

Sergei Lebedev said not the CIS Executive Committee, but CIS countries, first of all Russia, were involved in the process of conflict settlement. Everybody tries to help our two fraternal countries to solve problem between themâ€.

Comment. Lebedevâ€™s statement in Baku is clearly contradicts his words in his letter of refutation. The audiotape of Lebedevâ€™s statement proves that the CIS executive secretaryâ€™s words in his letter of refutation are wrong and he rote this letter under the pressure of Armenians. No one forced Lebedev to make statement in Baku and to use phrase of â€œliberation of the occupied territoriesâ€ (naturally no one can force him), these are Lebedevâ€™s personal ideas. In this case, how it can be explained that Lebedev tells different ideas to the Azerbaijani journalists and Armenian foreign minister. The question can be answered with an idea used by Lebedev in his statement in Baku: â€œYou see how the Russian leadership makes efforts for the settlement of this conflictâ€. Of course, we see, Mr. Lebedev, these efforts have double standards as your statement!