BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 15. The incident with the burning of the Azerbaijani flag has shown the true face of Armenia to the world, Türkiye’s Chief Presidential Adviser Yalcin Topcu told TurkicWorld, Trend reports.
“I strongly condemn the authorities of the Armenian state who witnessed such a heinous racist act against the flag of the host country of a sports competition attended by Armenian prime minister and many officials,” Topcu said.
According to him, this incident showed that the holding of competitions in countries such as Armenia, which do not provide security for the countries participating in international sports competitions, should be prohibited, and Armenian officials should be held accountable for this heinous incident.
Topcu noted that Armenia, which pursued an occupation policy against Azerbaijan for years, still cannot reconcile with its expulsion from the occupied lands by the heroic Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
"The racist who committed this heinous act has the support of the Armenian state. Having committed this crime, he is considered a ‘hero’ in his country. We look forward to the world's reaction to the cowardly and heinous attack that was demonstrated yesterday at the international sports competition in Yerevan,” he pointed out.
“We condemn this racist and hostile stance of the Armenian government and expect appropriate punishment from the European Weightlifting Federation and international sports organizations for this outrageous act," he added.
On April 14, during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan, a provocation was committed against Azerbaijan. An Armenian designer and stylist Aram Nikolyan officially accredited at the event ran onto the stage, took the Azerbaijani flag from the hands of the flag bearer, and burned it in front of everyone.
Previously, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan issued a joint statement saying that a decision had been made to return Azerbaijani athletes from Yerevan.
После этого инцидента было принято решение о возвращении из Еревана азербайджанских спортсменов.