BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 23. Armenia, contrary to all international norms, recently announced the opening of an airport in Gafan on the border with Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
This is a provocation by Yerevan, which intends to prevent any peace initiatives in the region, in particular the demarcation and delimitation of borders. Armenia does not consider the consequences and threats to civil aviation. The Pashinyan government does not take into account who can use this airport.
In addition, Gafan district occupies an important place in Azerbaijan's Zangezur. It is located between Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan and Karabakh, in an area surrounded by the Bargushad, Zangezur, and Mehri mountain ranges, in the Gigi and Okhchu gorges.
Moreover, it was a province of the Zangezur district of the Ganja province until 1920. As a result of political games in 1917–1920, like other districts of Zangezur, Gafan became an administrative district of the Armenian SSR, and from September 9, 1930, it functioned as an independent district.
The Armenian side uses the city to slow down the process of delineating the conditional border. Gafan Airport is located just a few meters from the conditional border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The process of delimitation of the state border between the two countries through the relevant commissions is currently at an initial stage.
In the absence of progress and without defining the basis for the delimitation of the border, the use of an airport in the immediate vicinity of the conditional border line determines the result of the delimitation process. During the process of establishing state borders, it is important that the parties refrain from unilateral steps that may interfere with the correct distribution.
In addition, because the airport and its runway are located in close proximity to the conditional border of the two countries, between which there is a tense military situation, the implementation of civilian flights to the airport in the border zone is at high risk because there are military facilities and troops here.
The opening of the Gafan airport without the consent of Baku may lead to tension between the parties and the emergence of unforeseen risks for civil aviation. However, the Pashinyan government does not seem to care much about this. Armenia hopes that some incident will happen so that there will be an opportunity to raise this issue in the international arena against our country.
Moreover, Armenia will try to use this airport for military purposes, as it did with the Khojaly airport. Armenians have repeatedly tried to declare the airport in Khojaly international, but in fact it served as a landing site for Armenian helicopters transferring Armenian military and weapons to the territory of Azerbaijan.
If Yerevan transports military cargo through this airport and there is a threat to our country, then this threat will be neutralized. Azerbaijan has all the possibilities for this.
In addition, to implement such cross-border projects, Armenia must sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, then delimit and demarcate the border, and at the next stage, hold mutual consultations in order to reach agreements on cross-border projects.
Armenia's disregard of international law and the rules of civil aviation makes the construction of an airport a few dozen meters from the border of another state unacceptable.