Community leaders: Conflict in Tver triggered not by national hatred

PanARMENIAN.Net - Heads of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of the Russian city of Tver stated that the conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis was not triggered by national hatred.

“On April 24, we commemorated the Armenian Genocide with a peaceful rally,” said head of the regional department of the Union of Armenians of Russia Seyran Kochkanyan.

“We were in a church, I was the last one to leave it at 4:00pm. Later I was told in a phone conversation that several cars toured the city with Turkish flags, what has insulted Armenians. I contacted head of the Azerbaijani Diaspora Fayaz Pashaev and we started looking for instigators jointly,” said Kochkanyan.

Pashaev, the head of the National Cultural Autonomy of Azerbaijanis of Tver Oblast, believes that the conflict is youth’s mischief.

Representatives of Armenian and Azerbaijani Diasporas clashed in the Russian city of Tver on April 24. As the sources from law-enforcement agencies reported, an exchange of fire was not a criminal shoot-out. As a result of the conflict, 7 people were taken to hospital with injuries. 23 participants of the skirmish were conveyed to a police department.