Azerbaijan to destroy violators of its airspace
By Sara Rajabova
Azerbaijan's entire airspace is under the control of the country's Air Force.
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry made such a statement following Armenian media reports about the alleged Armenian military jets performing flights along the Azerbaijani-Armenian contact line.
Refusing the media reports, the ministry said these reports are groundless and purposeful misinformation.
"All flights over Azerbaijan's occupied territories are prohibited in accordance with international law and the decisions of the International Civil Aviation Organization, therefore all unauthorized flights over these territories will be considered as violation of the airspace," the ministry said.
"Azerbaijan's Air Force has the most modern equipment to fight violators of the airspace. In such cases, air targets will be immediately destroyed by military aircraft and air defense system."
The ceasefire violations have intensified on the frontline during the past several days. The aggressor Armenia escalated tensions on the border areas from July 31, and scattered fighting has continued ever since. Thirteen Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and several others injured during the clashes between two sides. Despite what is said by Armenian sources, they suffered more losses.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.