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Prosecutor General’s Office: Investigation into crash of helicopter with Azerbaijani senior officials suspended

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 19 November 2010 14:51 (UTC +04:00)
The investigation into crash of helicopter with Azerbaijani senior officials on board in the sky of the Garakand village of the Khojavand region 19 years ago has been suspended.
Prosecutor General’s Office: Investigation into crash of helicopter with Azerbaijani senior officials suspended

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 19 / Trend K.Zarbaliyeva /

The investigation into crash of helicopter with Azerbaijani senior officials on board in the sky of the Garakand village of the Khojavand region 19 years ago has been suspended.

"The investigation into the crime was suspended as it took place in the area which is currently occupied by the Armenian Armed Forces. It was impossible to expose criminals," the Prosecutor General's Office told Trend.

The Armenian Armed Forces shot down MI-8 Helicopter, which included Azerbaijani senior officials, Russian and Kazakh military observers, on Nov. 20 in 1991 and as a result, killing 22 people.

The incident killed Azerbaijani Interior Ministry Mahammad Asadov, Prosecutor General Ismat Gayibov, Secretary of State Tofig Ismayilov, his Deputy Rafig Mammadov, MPs of USSR Supreme Council Vali Mammadov and Zulfu Hajiyev, Presidential Administration's Department Head Osman Mirzayev, Shusha City Administration Head Vagif Jafarov, journalist Ali Mustafayev, operator Fakhraddin Shahbazov, lighter Arif Huseynzade and others.

A lawsuit was filed on the incident at the Military Garrison Prosecutor's Office on Nov. 21 in 1991 and submitted to the Republican Prosecutor's Office to continue investigation.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

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