Azernews.Az

BAKU – Some Azerbaijani lawmakers on Friday criticized US Ambassador Matthew Bryza, accusing him of taking a pro-Armenian stance over his statement about the planned opening of an airport in the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

The separatist authorities have been rebuilding the airport near Khankandi, the rebel region’s center, and plan to reopen it this year to restart commercial flights to Yerevan. The Azerbaijani government said earlier that the occupied territories' airspace was a no-fly zone and any flights would be unauthorized, warning that airplanes violating Azerbaijan's airspace could be shot down. Commenting on Baku’s warning, Bryza said that shooting down a civilian plane is unacceptable under any circumstances. He also noted that for instance, planes flying to Azerbaijan’s enclave of Nakhchivan pass through Armenia’s airspace.

Independent MP Azay Guliyev told a parliamentary sitting that the US ambassador’s approach was "inadequate".

"He says that Armenia has opened its airspace for the flights Azerbaijan carries out to Nakhchivan and that Azerbaijan should follow suit by turning a blind eye to Armenia’s illegal flights to Nagorno Karabakh. The ambassador’s approach is erroneous, because Nagorno Karabakh is under occupation. It is therefore wrong to draw parallels between Nakhchivan and Nagorno Karabakh."

Guliyev said Armenia’s flights to the occupied Azerbaijani territories would run counter to relevant international conventions and commitments.

"US officials should not refrain from saying the truth as it is in their future statements," the lawmaker added.

Fazayil Aghamali, the chairman of pro-government Ana Vatan party, accused the US ambassador of defending Armenia’s stance, saying he should not "give way to such non-objectiveness".

The airport near Khankandi has been closed since the outbreak of the Karabakh war, which saw ethnic Armenian forces backed by Yerevan occupy the region. The region's separatist authorities earlier said they intended to reopen it on May 9. However, recent reports quoted the spokesman for the self-proclaimed republic’s leader as saying that the airport opening has been postponed for "technical reasons" but the facility "will definitely open this year".