Ambassador: EU complies with int'l law over Khojaly airport
The European Union remains committed to international law regarding the issue of opening of the Khojaly airport in Nagorno-Karabakh -- an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Roland Kobia told journalists on Wednesday, Trend news agency reported.
"The EU countries want to stay with international law and not to do anything that will add tension," he said.
According to Kobia, it is important to avoid any steps that would create tension in the region.
Armenian media reported on the commissioning of the airport in Khojaly in the near future.
Commissioning the airport in Khojaly is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation [adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago], the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported earlier.
Azerbaijan has banned the use of the airspace of Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia, as no one can guarantee a safe air corridor in the area, the head of the Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration, Arif Mammadov said earlier.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ICAC) also support the position of Azerbaijan on this issue.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.