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Hurriyet, Turkey
May 5 2011
No opening date yet for controversial Karabakh airport
Thursday, May 5, 2011
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Despite controversy, threats and international pressure surrounding
the opening of an airport in the breakaway Azerbaijani region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, officials from the de facto government insist an
official opening date for the airport has not been set due to
'technical impediments'
This photo shows Manvel Sargsian, the first representative from the de
facto government of the breakaway Azerbaijani region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, in Armenia. DAILY NEWS photo, Vercihan ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU.
Authorities have attributed the ongoing delay in announcing an
official opening date for an airport in the breakaway Azerbaijani
region of Nagorno-Karabakh to technical impediments as controversy
continues to swirl around the project.
Last month, Azerbaijani authorities threatened to shoot down any
planes `invading' its airspace before subsequently backing down.
Responding to the Azerbaijani threat, Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian said he would be the first passenger on the first plane to
the airport, according to Armenian media.
Denis Chagnon, a press secretary for the International Civil Aviation
Organization, or ICAO, recently called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to
solve the issue amid rising tension in the Caucasus over the airport
plans.
`The contracting states [Azerbaijan and Armenia] recognize that every
state must refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil
aircraft in flight and that, in case of interception, the lives of
persons onboard and the safety of the aircraft must not be
endangered,' Chagnon said.
Asked by the Hürriyet Daily News whether the opening of the airport
has been suspended due to international pressure, the former deputy
foreign minister for the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh separatist
government denied this was the case.
`The argument that the international community's pressure is mounting
does not reflect the truth. It is only because of technical problems
that a definite date is not being announced,' said Masis Mayilian, who
is also the head of the NKR Public Council on Foreign Policy and
Security Issues.
Mayilian also responded to Azerbaijan's statements regarding an
invasion of its airspace.
`Flights will not go near Azerbaijani airspace. Flights traveling from
Karabakh to the [Armenian] capital, Yerevan, will pass through
Armenian airspace,' he said.
Asked whether the decision to not announce the date of the flight was
due to international pressure, Tolga Uçak, a Turkish Foreign Ministry
spokesman from the information bureau, indicated the issue was between
Azerbaijan and Armenia.
`Only Armenia can provide an answer to this question,' Uçak told the Daily News.
A flashpoint of the Caucasus, the region known as Nagorno-Karabakh is
a constituent part of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia since the end of
1994. While internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, the
enclave has declared itself an independent republic but is
administered as a de facto part of Armenia.
The Nagorno-Karabakh War from 1988 to 1994, and the subsequent
occupation by Armenia, led to the deaths of more than 30,000 and
created nearly 1 million refugees, who largely remain in temporary
settlement camps and facilities in Azerbaijan.
Years of negotiations involving Russia, the United States and Europe,
as well as Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders themselves, have failed to
resolve the enclave's status or enable the return of refugees. Turkey
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its close ally
Azerbaijan in the conflict.
`Solving the problem tied to compromise'
Despite the tensions between the two countries, people's freedom to
use civilian flights cannot be obstructed and flight security cannot
be compromised, said former Deputy Foreign Minister Mayilian.
`Even Azerbaijan backed away from its own statements threatening to
attack civilian flights,' he said. `President Sarkisian, who will be
the first passenger, will deliver the news of the first flight from
the airport safely.'
Manvel Sargsian, the first representative from Karabakh in Armenia and
the director of the Armenian Center of National and International
Studies, told the Daily News that the Baku government's reaction was
too harsh.
For a solution to the Karabakh problem to be achieved, it must be tied
to a compromise between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said Sargsian.
`Foreign interference is of no use,' he added.
From: A. Papazian
May 5 2011
No opening date yet for controversial Karabakh airport
Thursday, May 5, 2011
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Despite controversy, threats and international pressure surrounding
the opening of an airport in the breakaway Azerbaijani region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, officials from the de facto government insist an
official opening date for the airport has not been set due to
'technical impediments'
This photo shows Manvel Sargsian, the first representative from the de
facto government of the breakaway Azerbaijani region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, in Armenia. DAILY NEWS photo, Vercihan ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU.
Authorities have attributed the ongoing delay in announcing an
official opening date for an airport in the breakaway Azerbaijani
region of Nagorno-Karabakh to technical impediments as controversy
continues to swirl around the project.
Last month, Azerbaijani authorities threatened to shoot down any
planes `invading' its airspace before subsequently backing down.
Responding to the Azerbaijani threat, Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian said he would be the first passenger on the first plane to
the airport, according to Armenian media.
Denis Chagnon, a press secretary for the International Civil Aviation
Organization, or ICAO, recently called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to
solve the issue amid rising tension in the Caucasus over the airport
plans.
`The contracting states [Azerbaijan and Armenia] recognize that every
state must refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil
aircraft in flight and that, in case of interception, the lives of
persons onboard and the safety of the aircraft must not be
endangered,' Chagnon said.
Asked by the Hürriyet Daily News whether the opening of the airport
has been suspended due to international pressure, the former deputy
foreign minister for the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh separatist
government denied this was the case.
`The argument that the international community's pressure is mounting
does not reflect the truth. It is only because of technical problems
that a definite date is not being announced,' said Masis Mayilian, who
is also the head of the NKR Public Council on Foreign Policy and
Security Issues.
Mayilian also responded to Azerbaijan's statements regarding an
invasion of its airspace.
`Flights will not go near Azerbaijani airspace. Flights traveling from
Karabakh to the [Armenian] capital, Yerevan, will pass through
Armenian airspace,' he said.
Asked whether the decision to not announce the date of the flight was
due to international pressure, Tolga Uçak, a Turkish Foreign Ministry
spokesman from the information bureau, indicated the issue was between
Azerbaijan and Armenia.
`Only Armenia can provide an answer to this question,' Uçak told the Daily News.
A flashpoint of the Caucasus, the region known as Nagorno-Karabakh is
a constituent part of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia since the end of
1994. While internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, the
enclave has declared itself an independent republic but is
administered as a de facto part of Armenia.
The Nagorno-Karabakh War from 1988 to 1994, and the subsequent
occupation by Armenia, led to the deaths of more than 30,000 and
created nearly 1 million refugees, who largely remain in temporary
settlement camps and facilities in Azerbaijan.
Years of negotiations involving Russia, the United States and Europe,
as well as Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders themselves, have failed to
resolve the enclave's status or enable the return of refugees. Turkey
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its close ally
Azerbaijan in the conflict.
`Solving the problem tied to compromise'
Despite the tensions between the two countries, people's freedom to
use civilian flights cannot be obstructed and flight security cannot
be compromised, said former Deputy Foreign Minister Mayilian.
`Even Azerbaijan backed away from its own statements threatening to
attack civilian flights,' he said. `President Sarkisian, who will be
the first passenger, will deliver the news of the first flight from
the airport safely.'
Manvel Sargsian, the first representative from Karabakh in Armenia and
the director of the Armenian Center of National and International
Studies, told the Daily News that the Baku government's reaction was
too harsh.
For a solution to the Karabakh problem to be achieved, it must be tied
to a compromise between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said Sargsian.
`Foreign interference is of no use,' he added.
From: A. Papazian