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BAKU AGAIN THREATENS TO SHOOT DOWN PLANES
Asbarez
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
The Stepanakert Airport
STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)-Azerbaijan appeared to have renewed on Monday
its threats to shoot down civilian aircraft that would carry out
flights between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh without its permission.
The authorities in Baku warned of "corresponding measures" just days
after international mediators discussed the matter during their latest
tour of the Karabakh conflict zone.
In a statement issued on Friday, the U.S., Russian and French diplomats
co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group said they "received renewed assurances
from the sides that they will reject any threat or use of force
against civil aircraft, pursue the matter through diplomatic steps,
and refrain from politicizing the issue."
"The Co-Chairs reaffirmed that operation of this airport cannot be used
to support any claim of a change in the status of Nagorno-Karabakh,
and urged the sides to act in accordance with international law and
consistent with current practice for flights over their territory,"
the statement added without elaborating.
The Azerbaijani State Civil Aviation Administration said in that
regard that the planned Yerevan-Stepanakert flights would constitute an
"invasion" of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized airspace and that
"taking corresponding measures in connection with that is inevitable."
"According to international norms, Azerbaijan has sovereign rights
to its airspace," a spokesman for the government body told the APA
news agency. "Those who enter that airspace without permission shall
be considered to have breached the air borders."
The Azerbaijani government first voiced such threats, in more explicit
terms, early last year when authorities in Karabakh announced the
impending reconstruction of the territory's sole airport located
near Stepanakert. Baku seemed to have backed away from the threats
in April 2011 after being criticized by mediating powers.
The launch of first commercial flights to and from Karabakh in two
decades has been repeatedly postponed since then, even though the
airport's reconstruction was essentially completed by the end of
2011. Also, a newly established Karabakh airline reportedly acquired
two aircraft for Yerevan-Stepanakert flights earlier this year. An
official in Stepanakert told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am)
last month that the flight service is likely to be launched before
the end of this summer.
From: A. Papazian
Asbarez
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
The Stepanakert Airport
STEPANAKERT (RFE/RL)-Azerbaijan appeared to have renewed on Monday
its threats to shoot down civilian aircraft that would carry out
flights between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh without its permission.
The authorities in Baku warned of "corresponding measures" just days
after international mediators discussed the matter during their latest
tour of the Karabakh conflict zone.
In a statement issued on Friday, the U.S., Russian and French diplomats
co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group said they "received renewed assurances
from the sides that they will reject any threat or use of force
against civil aircraft, pursue the matter through diplomatic steps,
and refrain from politicizing the issue."
"The Co-Chairs reaffirmed that operation of this airport cannot be used
to support any claim of a change in the status of Nagorno-Karabakh,
and urged the sides to act in accordance with international law and
consistent with current practice for flights over their territory,"
the statement added without elaborating.
The Azerbaijani State Civil Aviation Administration said in that
regard that the planned Yerevan-Stepanakert flights would constitute an
"invasion" of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized airspace and that
"taking corresponding measures in connection with that is inevitable."
"According to international norms, Azerbaijan has sovereign rights
to its airspace," a spokesman for the government body told the APA
news agency. "Those who enter that airspace without permission shall
be considered to have breached the air borders."
The Azerbaijani government first voiced such threats, in more explicit
terms, early last year when authorities in Karabakh announced the
impending reconstruction of the territory's sole airport located
near Stepanakert. Baku seemed to have backed away from the threats
in April 2011 after being criticized by mediating powers.
The launch of first commercial flights to and from Karabakh in two
decades has been repeatedly postponed since then, even though the
airport's reconstruction was essentially completed by the end of
2011. Also, a newly established Karabakh airline reportedly acquired
two aircraft for Yerevan-Stepanakert flights earlier this year. An
official in Stepanakert told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am)
last month that the flight service is likely to be launched before
the end of this summer.
From: A. Papazian