Russia opposes actions that could destabilize situation in S.Caucasus
By Gulgiz Dadashova
Russia is opposed to any action that could destabilize the situation in the South Caucasus region, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin said on Friday.
He was commenting on the possible opening of the airport in the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia.
Earlier, Armenian media reported that the airport in Khojaly airport is to be commissioned in the near future.
"There is the position of the OSCE Minsk Group on this issue. Russia is a member of the group. Any action that may cause destabilization is unacceptable," Dorokhin said.
Dorokhin said that Russia remains one of the negotiators in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is one of the main settlement instruments.
"There are different stages of settlement, and the country's participation in the negotiations at different levels, but Russia is aware of the problem and President Vladimir Putin is well acquainted with it. He is informed about the negotiations process," Dorokhin said.
The Ambassador said that Russia's goal is to help the sides reach a peaceful settlement.
Azerbaijan's position on the opening of the airport in Khojaly was repeatedly announced and brought to the attention of international institutions
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said earlier that the commissioning of the airport is an open violation of the convention on civil aviation -- which was adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago.
The Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration announced that Azerbaijan will strengthen the legal level use of the application of the Chicago convention. Azerbaijan banned the use of the airspace over Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia, as no one can guarantee a safe air corridor in the area/
The ICAO and European Civil Aviation Conference support Azerbaijan's position on the issue. Document No.121 on airports of the ICAO cited the Khojaly airport as property of Azerbaijan.
International flights from the Khojaly airport, constructed in 1978, were prohibited after the occupation of territories by Armenia. The Khojaly airport, which has been registered in international organizations with the name UB13, is a facility with military purposes.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war that concluded with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. Peace talks, brokered by Russia, France and the U.S., the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, have been mostly fruitless so far.