Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ISTANBUL: Opening airport in Karabakh a `provocation' by Armenia

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ISTANBUL: Opening airport in Karabakh a `provocation' by Armenia

    Today's Zaman, Turkey
    Oct 5 2012

    Turkey says opening airport in Karabakh a `provocation' by Armenia

    5 October 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM,


    Turkey has slammed Armenia for opening a new airport in occupied
    Azerbaijani territories and described the move as a `provocation' that
    could halt the peace process between the two countries.

    A statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Friday said
    opening of the Khankendi Airport, which has become functional since
    Sep. 28 in the occupied territories, was a provocation that would halt
    the negotiation process to find an enduring settlement to the
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

    Azerbaijan, its military budget bloated by oil and gas sales, had
    threatened to shoot down planes landing at the airport, but has since
    toned down its rhetoric. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan earlier
    said he plans to be on the first flight.

    The airport was heavily damaged and closed by the war, in which
    Armenian-backed forces seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven
    surrounding Azeri districts forming a land corridor with Armenia.

    Rebuilt at a cost of $3 million, it will have regular flights between
    Yerevan and the enclave, currently a five-hour drive apart along a
    single road snaking through mountains.

    Though not recognized as independent by any country, Nagorno-Karabakh
    is seeking to garner the trappings of statehood, an airport among
    them. Azerbaijan says this prejudices negotiations that have failed
    for the past 17 years to produce a peace settlement.

    The mountainous territory has been a source of a locked dispute
    between Armenia and Azerbajian since 1992 when Armenian forces invaded
    the region. Ethnic Armenians have controlled Nagorno-Karabakh, a
    mountainous enclave within Azerbaijan but with a majority Armenian
    population, since a war in the early 1990s that killed about 30,000
    people and ended in a ceasefire in 1994.

    Despite efforts of the Western countries and Russia, two countries
    failed to reach a compromise over the disputed territory.

    In the statement, Turkish Foreign Ministry invited Armenia to exercise
    commonsense and refrain from acts that could hamper regional peace and
    stability. It added that such moves won't contribute to peace and
    prosperity in the region.



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Working...
X