Bryza reminds Baku that aircrafts from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan fly over Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza told journalists he is happy that Azerbaijan has changed its stance and tries to protect its rights in ICAO.

Asked about the opening of an airport in Stepanakert, Bryza said he does not want to give certain comments: “Let the [OSCE Minsk Group] Co-Chairmen arrive in the region and express their attitude. It would be more correct. I can also say that aircrafts from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan fly over Armenia’s airspace, and it is considered to be acceptable,” APA quoted Bryza as saying.

Earlier, Armenian Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan commented on the statement of Azeri side threatening to shoot down planes bound for Karabakh.

As the Minister stressed, Armenia will spare no efforts for a “clear sky over Artsakh.”

When asked by journalists, whether he’s ready to fly in the same plane bound for Stepanakert with the Armenian President onboard, Mr. Ohanyan expressed his readiness to take the same plane as the President will, however, the protocol does not allow it.

Earlier, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan promised to be the first passenger of the plane bound for the newly built Stepanakert airport.

The director of the State Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan Arif Mammadov announced Azerbaijan would shoot down the aircraft that would be landing at the Stepanakert airport. The Azeri side has already managed to complain to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). “We notified that the airspace over Karabakh is closed. The Law on Aviation envisages physical destruction of airplanes landing on this territory,” Mammadov said. Moreover, official Baku considers itself entitled “to destroy any planes that will come to land at the airport of Stepanakert”. According to Mammadov, the ICAO management recommended making every effort to avoid possible negative effects in the region.