Azerbaijan dismisses ‘refusal to grant NATO air space’
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has dismissed an
Associated Press report claiming that Baku had refused to open up
air space toward Turkmenistan for the delivery of NATO cargo to
Afghanistan.
He said the report had no merit, as thousands of aircraft head
toward Afghanistan above Azerbaijan’s territory.
"All NATO states carry out flights through Azerbaijan upon
permission any time. We grant one-year authorization for such
flights to some countries. There are no problems or difficulties in
this area," the deputy minister said.
Azimov noted, further, that talks have lately been underway with
NATO on sending AWACS surveillance aircraft to Afghanistan through
Azerbaijan. However, Baku has yet to respond to this proposal.
Moreover, dispatching such planes requires an agreement among all
countries granting their air space.
"This issue does not depend on Azerbaijan alone. It must be
resolved by all countries lying along the route – from Turkey all
the way to Afghanistan, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan,"
Azimov said.*
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!