Azerbaijani weightlifters leave Armenia amid flag desecration

Today, the Azerbaijani weightlifters left the territory of Armenia. Earlier, Azerbaijani athletes refused to participate in the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan in connection with the desecration of the flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the opening ceremony. They are currently in Georgia, from where they will return to Baku.

According to the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani weightlifters, who decided not to participate in the European Championship in Yerevan, have already left the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Yesterday, one of the local organizers of the European Weightlifting Championship, Aram Nikolyan, set fire to the flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the opening ceremony and carried it off the stage. The Azerbaijani team, which arrived in Yerevan two days earlier, decided to withdraw from the competition due to this political and nationalist provocation by the host country.

Since there is no air or road communication between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the team left Yerevan for Georgia by bus. At the moment, the bus with Azerbaijani weightlifters has already crossed the Armenian-Georgian border and is approaching Tbilisi.

Athletes will fly to Baku at 20:20 Moscow time.

At the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sports organizations, Azerbaijan appealed to the international community to condemn this aggressive anti-Azerbaijani action and protect world sport from the policy of national hatred.