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AZERBAIJAN TO SHOOT DOWN PLANES VIOLATING ITS AIR SPACE
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Nov 14 2014
14 November 2014
The Azerbaijan Defense Ministry on Thursday warned that its forces
will shoot down aircraft that violate its air space.
"The Azeri army will shoot down aircraft that violate the air space
of our country," the Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement was released one day after the Azeri army shot down an
Armenian helicopter.
"The helicopter which was acting in provocation was shot down by our
soldiers," the statement said.
The ministry said that Azerbaijan defines the presence of Armenian
air forces in Nagorno-Karabakh as a violation of the country's air
space in accordance with international law, and the rulings of the
International Civil Aviation Authority.
On Wednesday, Armenian military aircraft opened fire at the positions
of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces at Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in
western Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's defense forces shot down an Armenian
helicopter and three crew members were killed in the incident,
according to reports from Azerbaijan's defense ministry.
"If similar actions are taken, we will destroy the air craft making
the violations with modern weapons," the statement said.
Armenian authorities denied violating Azerbaijani air space.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense said that "a Mi-24 helicopter of the
Air Force was shot down during a training flight in the air space of
Karabakh-Azerbaijan border as a result of a cease-fire violation by
Azerbaijani armed forces."
"The area of attack is too close to the contact line," the Armenian
ministry said. The contact line is a limit defined in the 1994
cease-fire agreement between the two countries.
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe, Didier Burkhalter, urged Thursday "the Presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan to respect the cease-fire and to honor the commitments
they made in Sochi, Newport, and Paris to find a peaceful resolution
to the conflict."
Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich also called
on Azerbaijan and Armenia "to keep away from steps that would escalate
the tension" on Thursday.
On May 12, 1994 a cease-fire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan
and Armenia after two decades of conflict about a territorial dispute.
In February 1988, the regional parliament in Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azerbaijan, which is largely populated by ethnic Armenians, voted to
declare its independence from Azerbaijan.
Armenia's parliament voted to recognize that independence and
that forced the evacuation of over 200,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis
from Armenia. Thousands of Azeri civilians lost their lives in the
resulting conflict.
AA
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/175563/azerbaijan-to-shoot-down-planes-violating-its-air-space.html
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Nov 14 2014
14 November 2014
The Azerbaijan Defense Ministry on Thursday warned that its forces
will shoot down aircraft that violate its air space.
"The Azeri army will shoot down aircraft that violate the air space
of our country," the Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement was released one day after the Azeri army shot down an
Armenian helicopter.
"The helicopter which was acting in provocation was shot down by our
soldiers," the statement said.
The ministry said that Azerbaijan defines the presence of Armenian
air forces in Nagorno-Karabakh as a violation of the country's air
space in accordance with international law, and the rulings of the
International Civil Aviation Authority.
On Wednesday, Armenian military aircraft opened fire at the positions
of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces at Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in
western Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's defense forces shot down an Armenian
helicopter and three crew members were killed in the incident,
according to reports from Azerbaijan's defense ministry.
"If similar actions are taken, we will destroy the air craft making
the violations with modern weapons," the statement said.
Armenian authorities denied violating Azerbaijani air space.
The Armenian Ministry of Defense said that "a Mi-24 helicopter of the
Air Force was shot down during a training flight in the air space of
Karabakh-Azerbaijan border as a result of a cease-fire violation by
Azerbaijani armed forces."
"The area of attack is too close to the contact line," the Armenian
ministry said. The contact line is a limit defined in the 1994
cease-fire agreement between the two countries.
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe, Didier Burkhalter, urged Thursday "the Presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan to respect the cease-fire and to honor the commitments
they made in Sochi, Newport, and Paris to find a peaceful resolution
to the conflict."
Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich also called
on Azerbaijan and Armenia "to keep away from steps that would escalate
the tension" on Thursday.
On May 12, 1994 a cease-fire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan
and Armenia after two decades of conflict about a territorial dispute.
In February 1988, the regional parliament in Nagorno-Karabakh,
Azerbaijan, which is largely populated by ethnic Armenians, voted to
declare its independence from Azerbaijan.
Armenia's parliament voted to recognize that independence and
that forced the evacuation of over 200,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis
from Armenia. Thousands of Azeri civilians lost their lives in the
resulting conflict.
AA
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/175563/azerbaijan-to-shoot-down-planes-violating-its-air-space.html