Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

The Azerbaijani media has revealed that over 400 tonnes of military cargo have been transported from Russia to Armenia through the air spaces of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

According to the reports, the military cargo was transported to Armenia during and after the military provocation committed by Armenia in the direction of Tovuz district of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border last month.

The reports revealed that nine flights were made from Russia to Armenia since last month. Two of these flights were made in the midst of the clashes on July 17. One flight per day was made on 18, 20, 27, 29 July and 4 August, while two flights were made on August 6.

Day.az reported that on 11 August morning, a Russian ‘IL-76TD’ flew in a roundabout way - along the route Rostov - Minvody - Aktau-Turkmenbashi - Nowsher - Rasht - Meghri - Yerevan. The Il-76TD covered more than 2,000 km of distance in 210 minutes. The Russian military aircraft was driven by Russian pilots who returned to Russia after completing their task.

Day.az reminded that there is not a single “IL-76TD” in the Armenian Air Force - there are only two old “IL-76MS”, donated by Russia to Armenia in 2004 under the agreement on the collective security of the CIS countries.

It should be noted that in line with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the supply of weapons and military equipment to Armenia should not only be strictly regulated but also be transparent, of which principles and conditions were grossly violated by Russia.

According to the report, such transport of military cargo is aimed at concealing the fact of secret deliveries of weapons and military equipment from Russia to Armenia.

The reported said that Azerbaijan has already notified the authorities and the appropriate structures of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, through whose territory the plane with a deadly cargo flew.

Georgia has already suspended the transportation of weapons to Armenia through its territory.

Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev phoned Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to voice his concerns over the transportation of military cargo from Russia to Armenia.

The president noted that immediately after the military clash on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, over 400 tonnes military cargo was transported from Russia to Armenia using the airspace of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

In his interview with Trend News Agency, Azerbaijani MP Hikmat Babaoghlu said that Russia has been arming Armenia for a long time. Noting that this has always been the case throughout the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Babaoghlu added that after the military-political provocation committed by the Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border on July 12-16, 2020, it becomes clear that Russia continues to provide weapons to Armenia.

“This is unacceptable. Arming the occupying country by Russia is, above all, contrary to the international law. Secondly, it is not in line with its mission as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and thirdly, it is not in line with the country's historical-political and moral responsibility in our region. Arming Armenia amounts to supporting its occupation of Azerbaijani lands. Moreover, it is an attempt to legitimize the status quo in the region and to ignore the national interests of Azerbaijan,” the MP stressed.

The MP emphasized that if the Minsk Group fails to fulfill its mission, then other members of the Minsk Group should assume the co-chairing mission. “The most suitable country for this role is Turkey, which has a historical, political and moral responsibility in the region,” Babaoghlu said.

In the meantime, the former American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza told Trend News Agency that by supplying military equipment to Armenia, Russia is losing its credibility as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“Russia's support for one side of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is completely unacceptable. If Russia continues to act in this way, it will lose credibility as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, in other words, as an objective, impartial and fair mediator. Thus, it calls into question the viability of the OSCE Minsk Group."

At the same time, Bryza condemned Armenia because of its destructive position in the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“A year ago, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a constructive meeting, however; everything changed a few months later when Pashinyan abandoned all the basic principles and declared that ‘Karabakh is Armenia’ and everything had to be restarted. With such a position of Armenia, no one can be a mediator for the settlement.”

Another MP Arzu Naghiyev stressed in an interview with “REAL TV” that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are also indifferent to their work, therefore it is important to change its composition.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz