Zeynalov denies warning over PKK-Armenia connection

04.12.2007
Today's Zaman Ankara

Azerbaijan's consul general has denied suggestions that his government supplied Turkish and Azerbaijani officials with information linking the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) terrorist group to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Azeri Consul General in Kars Hasan Sultanoğlu Zeynalov made a statement about a news article published on Nov. 30 by Today's Zaman which stated that the PKK, faced with increasing pressure to end its activities in northern Iraq, may be seeking to re-establish its camps in the Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Zeynalov emphasized that he had never said, "We informed both the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments of the situation."

In his statement Zeynalov said: "Many press and media organs have revealed the connections that exist between the PKK and ASALA. We also read in the newspapers that some PKK militants seized by Turkish security forces both dead and alive were actually Armenians. These connections between the PKK and ASALA were revealed by independent press and media organs, not by us. However, it is out of the question that we have warned either the Azerbaijani or the Turkish government about PKK efforts to buy land in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh. We don't have a duty to warn governments, and we have done no such thing."

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.