Ankara backs Baku on planned opening of airport in rebel region
BAKU – Turkey supports Azerbaijan’s stance that planned flights from an airport to be reopened in the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region would contradict international conventions, the Turkish ambassador in Baku has said.
Hulusi Kilic told the press Wednesday that Ankara has always backed Baku’s position.
"On this issue we support Azerbaijan’s fair cause as well. The matter must be resolved in line with international law."
The separatist authorities have been rebuilding the airport near Khankandi, the center of the self-proclaimed republic run by ethnic Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh, and plan to restart commercial flights to Yerevan in May. Azerbaijan has said Armenia has no right to operate the airport and warned it could shoot down civilian planes flying to Nagorno Karabakh.
The airport has been closed since the outbreak of the Karabakh war in the early 1990s, which saw ethnic Armenian forces backed by Yerevan occupy the region amid fighting that left an estimated 30,000 dead. Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned it could use force to regain its occupied territories if the ongoing peace talks remain fruitless.
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