Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 2 / Trend /
Any actions in Azerbaijan's occupied territories are illegal and have a negative impact on the negotiation process on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elman Abdullayev told media today. He was commenting on the information of commissioning the airport in Khankendi earlier spread by Armenian media.
"The international community must express its position on the issue," he said. "The international community must also focus on Armenia's illegal actions."
"Armenia's actions, that is, opening the airport in Khankendi contradicts the international conventions, in particular the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation," Abdullayev said.
"The international community must not ignore the fact, directed against Azerbaijan's sovereignty," he said.
"Armenia is trying by all means to maintain the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. OSCE, UN and other international organizations must also voice their opinion and force Armenia to liberate Azerbaijan's territory for regional peace to be restored," Abdullayev said. He was commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister's statement made at the UN General Assembly.
Commissioning of an airport in Khankendi is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation [signed in Chicago on Dec.7, 1944], Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said earlier.
Therefore, Azerbaijan will intensify work in legal sphere on applying the Chicago Convention, Azimov said.
Azerbaijan has banned the use of the airspace of Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia, as no one can guarantee flight safety in the area, the head of the Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration, Arif Mammadov, told the New Azerbaijan party's official website earlier.
He said Armenia's steps directed to the operation of the airport in Khankendi are attempts to violate international legal norms. This air space belongs to Azerbaijan, so its use by Armenia is impossible.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Civil Aviation Conference (ICAC) also support the position of Azerbaijan on this issue.
President Serzh Sargsyan promised to be the first passenger which will fly from Khankendi.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 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.