Azerbaijan, Baku, November 11 / Trend, E. Mehdiyev /
The head of Moldova's Armed Forces has dismissed rumors about the sale of arms from Moldova to Armenia. This illustrates that the Moldovan authorities are seriously concerned about unlawful weapons sale, First Vice Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafat Askerov told journalists on Friday.
He said Moldovan officials submitted their explanations and statements in connection with the unlawful sale of arms to Armenia because Azerbaijan and Moldova are linked through partner relations.
"We cooperate in GUAM. Of course, such actions committed by a friendly state without Azerbaijan's knowledge can in no way suit us, so they gave us their explanations," Askerov said.
Moldovan President Marian Lupu earlier dismissed Gen. Yury Dominich from the Armed Forces.
Despite statements that the President signed his order to enhance military discipline and prevent further violations of military legal provisions, the true reason of the General's dismissal, as reported by Moldovan newspapers, was that the secret arms sale transaction with Armenia had been unmasked. The outburst scandal stormed Moldovan political circles.
Moldovan ruling circles fear that this scandal may become a barrier on Moldova-Azerbaijan cooperation under the GUAM. The arms reportedly were artillery and antitank units. The arms were delivered from Kishinev to Yerevan by a cargo plane on September 13. The scandal has already led to discords between the Cabinet of Ministers and the Defense Ministry of Moldova. Investigation has been carried out on the fact.