Azernews.Az

There are legal means to prevent operation of the Khojaly airport in the occupied Azerbaijani territories,former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, ex-co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza believes,Trend news agency reported.

"Azerbaijan has a right to defend its territorial integrity under international law," Bryza told journalists in Baku on Friday commenting on Armenia's plans to open the airport in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"Of course, the issue of the airport in the occupied territories can lead to escalation of tension around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, this issue like other problems around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved within the OSCE Minsk Group, as I said before while being U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair," he said.

As for the preparation of an agreement between Russia and Armenia on military-technical cooperation, he stressed that it is a logical step, as Russia has a military base in Armenia.

"However, on the other hand, the question arises, how this decision will affect Russia's image as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair," Bryza said.

He said the main thing is that everything should be transparent and all the co-chair countries should be aware of what is going on between Russia and Armenia.

Earlier, Armenian media reported about the commissioning of the airport in Khojaly.

Commissioning the airport in Khojaly is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, 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.