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AZERBAIJAN PARLIAMENT OKAYS TROOP PULL OUT FROM KOSOVO
Agence France Presse
March 4, 2008 Tuesday
Azerbaijan's parliament voted Tuesday to pull out its peacekeepers
from Kosovo after it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, has not recognised Kosovo's
independence, fearing its declaration could set a precedent for its
own breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.
Lawmakers voted 87-3 to withdraw 34 peacekeepers who have been serving
in Kosovo with a Turkish battalion under NATO command.
"The political situation around Kosovo has changed and there is a
need to reconsider the decision" to deploy troops, deputy speaker
Ziyafet Askerov told parliament.
Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence
from Serbia on February 17 and has since been recognised by the United
States and many Western countries.
Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven
surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that
claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and forced about a million people
on both sides to flee.
A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but the two countries have since
cut direct economic and transport links and failed to negotiate a
settlement on the region's status.
Mostly Muslim Azerbaijan agreed to join the NATO-led peacekeeping
force in Kosovo in 1999 as part of its efforts to build stronger ties
with the military alliance.
Agence France Presse
March 4, 2008 Tuesday
Azerbaijan's parliament voted Tuesday to pull out its peacekeepers
from Kosovo after it unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.
Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, has not recognised Kosovo's
independence, fearing its declaration could set a precedent for its
own breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh.
Lawmakers voted 87-3 to withdraw 34 peacekeepers who have been serving
in Kosovo with a Turkish battalion under NATO command.
"The political situation around Kosovo has changed and there is a
need to reconsider the decision" to deploy troops, deputy speaker
Ziyafet Askerov told parliament.
Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence
from Serbia on February 17 and has since been recognised by the United
States and many Western countries.
Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh and seven
surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that
claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and forced about a million people
on both sides to flee.
A ceasefire was signed in 1994 but the two countries have since
cut direct economic and transport links and failed to negotiate a
settlement on the region's status.
Mostly Muslim Azerbaijan agreed to join the NATO-led peacekeeping
force in Kosovo in 1999 as part of its efforts to build stronger ties
with the military alliance.