Azerbaijan quits European weightlifting after its flag was burned

Azerbaijan this Saturday he withdrew his national team from European Weightlifting Championship which takes place in Yerevan after the burning of its flag during the opening of the event, held in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikola Pashinián.

The burning of the flag was described as a “barbaric act” that “completely contradicts the principles of the noble purpose of sport”, in a joint statement issued today by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan.

“We call on the international community and international sports organizations to strongly condemn this barbaric act,” the statement said, calling on the European Weightlifting Federation to impose sanctions against Armenia.

After the flag burning incident in #Erevanthe #Azerbaijani the national weightlifting team decided to withdraw from the European Weightlifting Championships in #Armenia.

Team 🇦🇿 has already booked flight tickets from Yerevan to Antalya and then to #Baku at 2:55 am However… pic.twitter.com/QqgxoqF8Pv

— The Azeri Times (@AzeriTimes) April 15, 2023

According to the Azerbaijani authorities, who emphasized that the person who set fire to the flag was accredited for the inauguration, “in the atmosphere of hatred that reigns in Armenia, there are no security guarantees and the normal participation of Azerbaijani athletes in competitions is impossible due to psychological pressure.

In view of this, Baku ordered the return to the country of twelve members of the national delegation, four of whom are athletes.

The Azerbaijani team was supposed to travel to the Turkish city of Antalya at dawn, but they stayed in the Yerevan hotel where they stayed until noon, according to the report of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Armenian media identified the perpetrator of the burning of the Azerbaijani flag as Aram Nikolyan, an Armenian designer accredited for the opening ceremony, who was detained by the police.

Nikolyan went on stage in the hall where the opening was held, stole the Azerbaijani flag from the girl who was carrying it and set it on fire.

The incident happened a few days after another escalation of the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, when 7 people from both sides were killed in an armed conflict in the border area.