Baku May Complain of Schwarzenegger to Bush

PanARMENIAN.Net - Official Baku is discontent with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The case may come to Azeri authorities complaining to President George W. Bush. This is due to a twin city program that provides for Montebello cooperation with Stepanakert. "This course of events may easily upset the fragile balance of the talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia," said Azeri Ambassador to US Hafiz Pashayev in his statement to Schwarzenegger. "You should know that city is the administrative center of Nagorno Karabakh separatists," the Azeri diplomat's address says. However, California Administration responded to Pashayev that it did not deal with those matters, advising to contact the Mayor of Stepanakert's twin city - Bill Molinari. The latter said, "the city will continue friendly relations with Stepanakert."



Baku considers Schwarzenegger inertia as "an attempt to oppose his opinion to US official position." In Azeri MP Aydyn Mirzazade's words, "as the state governor Schwarzenegger should have given a political assessment of Montebello Mayor's actions." In response to that Armenian National Committee of America(ANCA) representative Serge Samonyants stated the US had never spoken of returning NK to Azerbaijan. According to head of the Azeri MFA Information Policy and Press Department Tahir Tagizade, the Department works over the issue. "Similar statements on cooperation with separatists are inadmissible," Tagizade said, reported the Echo Baku newspaper.