Baku calls on world to halt airport plan

BAKU

Azerbaijan has called on the international community to condemn Armenia’s alleged attempts to open an airport in Khankendi, in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“The international community must express its position on the issue and also focus on Armenia’s illegal actions,” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told reporters on Oct. 2. His remarks came after Armenian media reported that the country plans to open an airport in Khankendi.

“Armenia’s actions, that is, opening the airport in Khankendi, contradict international conventions, in particular the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation,” Azerbaijan’s private Trend news agency quoted Abdullayev as saying on its website.

Any actions in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories are illegal and have a negative impact on the negotiation process to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Abdullayev said. “The international community must not ignore the fact [that this action is] directed against Azerbaijan’s sovereignty,” he said. “The OSCE, U.N. and other international organizations must also voice their opinion and force Armenia to liberate Azerbaijan’s territory in order for regional peace to be restored,” he added.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has promised to be the first passenger to fly from Khankendi, according to media reports.