Karabakh airport may be used after Armenian pullout – Baku

Interfax, Russia
Jan 14 2013

Karabakh airport may be used after Armenian pullout – Baku

BAKU. Jan 14

Azerbaijan will not mind operation of the Karabakh airport as long as
it becomes a part of the peace agreement resolving the Karabakh
conflict, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told a Monday press
conference.

“The airport as such does not present a big problem; it may be used
for humanitarian and other purposes. But it must be a part of the ‘big
plan,'” the minister said.

“If Armenia agrees to pull out forces from the occupied Azeri lands
and to make this airport a part of the big peace plan, that would not
be a problem,” the minister explained.

Yet, the reopening of the airport will violate international norms if
Armenia continues to occupy Karabakh and adjoining areas, Mammadyarov
stressed. “If they want to use this airport, they have to withdraw
their forces,” he stressed.

In turn, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that
Armenian flights above the occupied Azeri lands were illegal and might
seriously damage the Karabakh settlement. He said they disagreed with
the Armenian position; flights above the occupied territory were
impermissible and the question must be discussed at the OSCE Minsk
Group. Eide stressed that the sides must not take provocative steps.

Te jv

From: Baghdasarian