The Armenian side should immediately bring to justice the person who burned the Azerbaijani flag on hate grounds, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the statement, News.az reports.

According to the ministry, the flag of Azerbaijan was burned on April 14 at the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. We strongly condemn this act, which is the embodiment of the hatred of Azerbaijan rooted in Armenia on ethnic grounds.

"The Armenian government, as the side organizing the event, should have prevented such events in a timely manner and taken suitable security measures. Despite the fact that the perpetrator of this act was initially detained, his subsequent release to applause is of serious concern. The Armenian side should at once bring to justice the person who committed this hate crime. We call upon you to strongly condemn this action, which is a gross violation of the rules of conduct at sports competitions adopted by the International Weightlifting Federation, the International Olympic Committee, and other relevant international organizations, and to take appropriate penalties against the organizers within the rules," the statement says.

Moreover, a provocation was committed against Azerbaijan yesterday during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan. Aram Nikolyan, who is a designer and stylist, ran onto the stage, took the Azerbaijani flag from the hands of the flag bearer, and burned it in front of everyone.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan earlier issued a joint statement saying that a decision to return Azerbaijani athletes from Yerevan had been made.

News.az