Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Armenian actions over the issue of possible civilian flights to Khojaly airport in the occupied Azerbaijani territories are not in line with international law, Azerbaijan's Civil Aviation Administration told Trend news agency on Friday.

"Our position on this issue remains unchanged - the actions by the Armenian side are wrong and do not comply with international law," it said.

According to the administration, it has repeatedly appealed to international organizations over possible launch of illegal civilian flights to the occupied territories by Armenia, and, at the same time, relevant organizations have repeatedly upheld the just position of Azerbaijan.

Commissioning of the airport is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said earlier.

Recently, chief of the General Department of Civil Aviation (GDCA) of Armenia Artyom Movsisyan said this body will allow civil aircraft to fly to the occupied territory of Azerbaijan. But he declined to disclose dates.

According to Movsisyan, flights will be carried out on board 19-seat Armenian planes. The duration of a flight will be 45 to 50 minutes.

Azerbaijani officials have expressed concern over the statement of the GDCA chief.

First Deputy Chairman of Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov said that if Armenia still intends to conduct illegal flights to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, after strongly worded statements of Baku, then, of course, this is a provocation.

Asgarov said that by making such statements the Armenian authorities try to distract people's attention from more important issues.

"Recent presidential elections in Armenia were held with major falsifications. Serzh Sarksyan is an illegitimate president," Asgarov said.

"Falsifications in the presidential elections in Armenia, as well as poor socio-economic situation, have heightened tensions in the country. Therefore, Armenia draws the people's attention to the Karabakh problem to distract them from the mentioned problem and to prolong the conflict. Certainly, the life of this provocation can't be long. Sooner or later this government of Armenia will have to answer many questions to expain to its people why it led them into this situation."

According to Asgarov, Azerbaijan has a strong will and determination in this regard. Azerbaijan will not back down from its position over the Khojaly airport and will never let the airport operate without its permission.

"The conduct of illegal flights is prevented in accordance with the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and the implementation of the requirements of the law on civil aviation of Azerbaijan. The airplane of any foreign country flying over Azerbaijan's territory without its permission will be hit by air defense forces of the country," he said.

Earlier, Armenian media reported that the airport in Khojaly is to be commissioned in the near future.

Azerbaijan has banned the use of air space of its Armenian-occupied territory Nagorno-Karabakh, as no one can guarantee the safety of the area.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (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 in the early 1990s that concluded with the signing of a fragile cease-fire. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. -- co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group -- have been brokering peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the 1994 ceasefire, but their efforts have not produced any result yet.