Chief Civil Aviation Department of Armenia receives no messages from ICAO regarding "inadmissibility" of flights between Karabakh and Armenia

• Monday, January 21, 15:17

 Chief Civil Aviation Department of Armenia (CCADA) receives no messages from ICAO regarding inadmissibility of organizing flights between Karabakh and Armenia, Press Secretary of CCADA Nelly Cherchinyan told ArmInfo refuting Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Elman Abdullayev's
statement that ICAO allegedly sent a 'strict message' to Armenia regarding "inadmissibility of organizing illegal flights over occupied territory of Azerbaijan."

To recall, earlier on Jan 20, Dmitry Atbashyan, Head of the NKR Civil Aviation Department, said: "The Stepanakert Airport must be put into operation and we will make flights despite anything. We are civil aviation and we work to ensure the people's right of free movement stipulated by the International Law.  "Azerbaijan is well aware that our stance is in harmony with the International Law and we can make it to reckon with the given fact with help of the international organizations." 

In Nov 2012 Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan sent a letter to the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council in which he called on the international organization to assist in the operation of the Stepanakert Airport.  Below is the text of the letter obtained from Artsakh Foreign Ministry.

The operation of the Stepanakert airport is the sovereign right of the NKR and pursues solely civilian and humanitarian objectives, including the realization of such a basic human right as freedom of movement.  Freedom of movement of the civilian population of the NKR alongside with other human rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other core international bodies have already been continuously and vehemently undermined by the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade. This stance of Azerbaijan is a clear manifestation of its recklesst disregard for human rights and
fundamental freedoms as a continuation of its policy of collective punishment of civilian population.

The threats of Azerbaijan to shoot down civil aircrafts in particular, violates the provisions of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and runs counter to the commitments undertaken in the framework of the negotiation process mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states, to reject any threat or use of force against civil aircraft, pursue the matter through diplomatic steps, and refrain from politicizing the issue.

On Jan 18 Azerbaijan public information that the Azerbaijani Government approved rules implying forced landing of aircrafts-violators. In this light, Director of the State Administration of Civil Aviation Arif Mamedov expressed hope that the Armenian party will not launch the airport.