Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend I.Alizade / The Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) is calling the Azerbaijanis not to allow the Armenian wrestlers to visit Baku.
Azerbaijani coaches, wrestlers and referees should refuse to participate in the championship, the KLO said on 10 September. The Armenian wrestlers will participate in the championship, which will be held in Baku from 17 to 23 September.
"We will make every effort to prevent the Armenians from participating in this championship," the statement said. The KLO related the decision to allow Armenians to visit to Baku as 'dirty plans'. "Azerbaijani sportsmen, especially the wrestlers, should not allow Armenian sportsmen to participate in this championship and this shameful event to appear in the country's sports history," the KLO urged.
The KLO was established in Baku on 28 January 2000, with the objective of a public struggle for the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Akif Nagi, a Ph.D candidate in history, has been elected Chairman of the KLO at the Constituent Assembly of the organization.
KLO unites representatives of intelligentsia, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), old and young people as well as former military soldiers. The organization has 74 departments in the regions, cities and tent camps in Azerbaijan. Its representatives are working in Turkey, Iran, Russia, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Estonia and Iraq. KLO has more the 10,000 members.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988 due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.