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OPENING OF KHANKENDI AIRPORT IN ARMENIAN-OCCUPIED NAGORNO-KARABAKH VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL LAW, WARNS AZERBAIJAN
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/opening-of-khankendi-airport-in-armenian-occupied-nagorno-karabakh-violates-international-law-warns-azerbaijan-186928191.html
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Azerbaijan has strongly condemned the planned opening of Khankendi
airport in Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Ahead of the next
meeting of EuroNest PA, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Elkhan
Suleymanov said: "The International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) should
not certify the opening of a new airport in the Armenian-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and the launch of civil flight routes from and to
it, which so obviously violate Azerbaijan's airspace and the rules
of international law."
Suleymanov added that operating civil flights in Nagorno-Karabakh
without the consent of the State Civil Aviation Administration of
the Republic of Azerbaijan, would both contradict the 1994 Chicago
Convention on Civil Aviation and go against the principles of state
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Baku, recognised in its
Resolutions No. 822, 854, 873, and 884, by the UN Security Council
and confirmed in similar documents by the European Parliament, PACE,
OSCE PA, and other international organisations.
The controversy follows a period of renewed efforts by the
international community, together with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk
Group, to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Frozen Conflict of
Nagorno-Karabakh, the region seized by separatist Armenian paramilitary
groups together with seven surrounding districts in Azerbaijan in
the aftermath of the collapse of theSoviet Union in the early 1990s.
The Azerbaijani delegation stresses that the intention to illegally
open the airport of Khankendi is a provocation and proves that the
Armenian side is not interested in the solution of the conflict.
Launching new civil flight routes in the occupied territories
"escalates the atmosphere of distrust between the parties,
destructively influences the process of negotiations and serves to
realise claims on changing the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and to
internationally legalise the occupational regimes," said Suleymanov.
In October last year, Armenia announced its intention to open the
airport of Khankendi in order to operate civil flights from and
toYerevan. The move raised protests among the international community.
The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for the
South Caucasus, Patrick Murphy, said at a press conference in November
that "Whatever is done regarding this airport, it cannot have any
consequences for the status of this territory." The International
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation
Conference (ICAC) also publicly voiced their support for the position
of Baku on this issue.
The airport of Khankendi is close to Khojaly, a city which holds
special significance for Azerbaijan, as over six hundred ethnic
Azerbaijani civilians were killed there on 25-26 February 1992 by
Armenian and, partially, CIS armed forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh
War. Western governments and the western media refer to it as the
Khojaly Massacre or Khojaly Tragedy. Azerbaijani and Turkish sources
refer to it as the Khojaly Genocide.
SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/opening-of-khankendi-airport-in-armenian-occupied-nagorno-karabakh-violates-international-law-warns-azerbaijan-186928191.html
BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Azerbaijan has strongly condemned the planned opening of Khankendi
airport in Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Ahead of the next
meeting of EuroNest PA, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Elkhan
Suleymanov said: "The International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) should
not certify the opening of a new airport in the Armenian-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh and the launch of civil flight routes from and to
it, which so obviously violate Azerbaijan's airspace and the rules
of international law."
Suleymanov added that operating civil flights in Nagorno-Karabakh
without the consent of the State Civil Aviation Administration of
the Republic of Azerbaijan, would both contradict the 1994 Chicago
Convention on Civil Aviation and go against the principles of state
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Baku, recognised in its
Resolutions No. 822, 854, 873, and 884, by the UN Security Council
and confirmed in similar documents by the European Parliament, PACE,
OSCE PA, and other international organisations.
The controversy follows a period of renewed efforts by the
international community, together with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk
Group, to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Frozen Conflict of
Nagorno-Karabakh, the region seized by separatist Armenian paramilitary
groups together with seven surrounding districts in Azerbaijan in
the aftermath of the collapse of theSoviet Union in the early 1990s.
The Azerbaijani delegation stresses that the intention to illegally
open the airport of Khankendi is a provocation and proves that the
Armenian side is not interested in the solution of the conflict.
Launching new civil flight routes in the occupied territories
"escalates the atmosphere of distrust between the parties,
destructively influences the process of negotiations and serves to
realise claims on changing the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and to
internationally legalise the occupational regimes," said Suleymanov.
In October last year, Armenia announced its intention to open the
airport of Khankendi in order to operate civil flights from and
toYerevan. The move raised protests among the international community.
The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for the
South Caucasus, Patrick Murphy, said at a press conference in November
that "Whatever is done regarding this airport, it cannot have any
consequences for the status of this territory." The International
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation
Conference (ICAC) also publicly voiced their support for the position
of Baku on this issue.
The airport of Khankendi is close to Khojaly, a city which holds
special significance for Azerbaijan, as over six hundred ethnic
Azerbaijani civilians were killed there on 25-26 February 1992 by
Armenian and, partially, CIS armed forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh
War. Western governments and the western media refer to it as the
Khojaly Massacre or Khojaly Tragedy. Azerbaijani and Turkish sources
refer to it as the Khojaly Genocide.
SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor