During the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, an unknown person set fire to the Azerbaijani flag. The incident occurred when Armenian weightlifter Andranik Karapetyan brought the Armenian flag to the arena.

As Karapetyan approached the stage, a group of people in the audience began chanting anti-Azerbaijani slogans and set fire to the neighbouring country's flag.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Armenia issued a statement expressing concern over the incident and demanding that the Armenian authorities take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ayhan Hajizadeh condemned the burning and expressed concern over the lack of security measures taken by the organisers to prevent such acts of hatred, calling for appropriate punishment for those responsible.

Later, Baku decided to return members of the national weightlifting team from the European Championships.

In a statement, the Azerbaijani side emphasised that the national flag was burned demonstratively, and this was done by an officially accredited person.

Azerbaijan also called on the European Weightlifting Federation to impose sanctions against Armenia.

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