According to today’s Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan got into a shouting match and briefly scuffled during a December 19 Kremlin reception marking the 20th anniversary of the CIS.
The paper says that according to informed sources, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev exchanged words during an awards ceremony during which a representative from each nation was to receive a decoration.
When it came for Armenia’s representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, to get his award, Ilham Aliyev is reported to have voiced his opposition and Kocharyan returned empty handed.
Soon after, Aliyev is said to have scolded Sargsyan for nominating Kocharyan to receive the award, arguing that Kocharyan’s public criticism of the Baku government was hurting the Karabakh peace process.
Sargsyan is said to have responded in kind, telling Aliyev that negotiations were being hindered by people in his own government.
The two leaders allegedly then rose from the table, pushed each other, and assumed a “fighting stance”.
It was only after President Dmitry Medvedyev stepped in that Sargsyan and Aliyev sat down.
The newspaper says that Aliyev then started to gnaw his teeth and threatened Sargsyan with the words, ‘Mark my words, I ain’t finished with you’.
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