EurasiaNet.org, NY
May 6 2011
Nagorno-Karabakh: Waiting for Air Artsakh
May 6, 2011 – 12:28pm, by Marianna Grigoryan
Like Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot,
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been busy arguing, talking, and much, much
more as they wait for the first civilian flight in 20 years to land in
the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. And now, as in the case of
Godot, it looks like their wait might continue `indefinitely.’
Plans to reopen the territory’s lone airport, located just outside the
Karabakh capital, Stepanakert, have been postponed from May 9 — a
reported, but never officially confirmed date — until at least
mid-summer, according to the breakaway region’s de facto leadership.
`The problem is not political, but, rather, organizational,’ stressed
David Babaian, spokesperson for Karabakh’s de facto president, Bako
Sahakian. `Nobody had named a specific date. The opening was scheduled
for May, not specifically on May 9. We do not care much about the day
or the month. What is important is that the airport is safe and meets
the relevant construction standards.’
A slightly different message, however, was delivered earlier this
year, when Armenian media reported that the airport would reopen on
May 9 to commemorate the 1992 takeover of the Karabakh town of Shushi
by Armenian and separatist Karabakhi forces. Repair work on the
airport, closed in 1991 amid fighting with Azerbaijan over the
territory, began in the summer of 2009.
Reports about the airport’s planned reopening prompted a strong
reaction from Azerbaijan, which claims Karabakh as its own territory.
Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration Director Arif Mammadov
underlined that Azerbaijan had the right to shoot down any aircraft
that violated Baku’s control over Karabakh’s airspace. The
announcement, seen as adding fuel to already simmering tensions
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh, was widely condemned
among the diplomatic community.
In response, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan declared on March 31
that he would be a passenger on Air Artsakh’s maiden flight from
Yerevan to Karabakh’s capital, Stepanakert. Not to be left behind,
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian also pledged to fly Air
Artsakh, albeit in a different plane; for security reasons, the two
men do not travel together.
Baku subsequently softened its warning, saying it would take no action
against `civilian objects.’ In an April 14 statement, the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, which oversees
negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh, urged the
two sides to `reject any threat or attack against civil[ian] aircraft’
and to seek a diplomatic resolution of the dispute `without
politicizing the issue.’
De facto officials in Karabakh did not indicate whether wrangling with
Azerbaijan or international diplomatic pressure prompted them to delay
the airport’s reopening. Rather, they cite the need to provide firm
guarantees for airport `security.’
`We have always stated that we’ll open the airport as soon as it is
completely ready,’ said Valeri Adbashian, who heads Karabakh’s Civil
Aviation Department. `Active work is being done in this direction, and
most likely, the airport will open in mid-summer.’
`Special services’ are involved in reviewing the airport’s security in
the face of any possible terror attempt, he continued, without
clarifying the services’ geographic origin. `We are in a dangerous
zone, and we must provide double security,’ he said.
Adbashian is betting on the installation of `modern equipment’ —
loosely defined as computers for navigation systems and airport
information services — to provide that security. `Specialists are
actively working; information systems will be installed and launched
on May 6,’ he said.
Repair work is also underway on widening and painting the airport’s
single, 2,200-meter-long runway, he added. Adbashian identified
Karabakh’s de facto government as the source of financing for the
airport’s makeover, but could not give a figure for the overall cost.
To judge by local media reports, the makeover is ambitious. Armenian
news stories earlier this year claimed that the Stepanakert airport
would be able to handle 200 passengers per hour — a figure that
easily exceeds the seat capacity of Air Artsakh’s fleet of three
50-seat CRJ-200 jets. Tickets for Air Artsakh’s flights have not yet
gone on sale. With tickets projected to cost about 16,000-18,000 drams
(roughly $44-$49) for a one-way flight, a surge of passenger traffic
might be a long way off.
Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.
From: A. Papazian