26/06/2014 17:16
David Babayan: Stepanakert airport has operated without interruption
The flight of a two-seater tourist plane from Stepanakert airport produced hysteria in Azerbaijan. The video posted on YouTube sparked a heated debate in that country, with claims that “the flight was illegal as the plane flew over Azerbaijani territory”.
During a talk with the correspondent of Aysor.am, the spokesman for President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic David Babayan said the impression is that Azerbaijan has just learned that the Stepanakert airport is used for small aviation. In his words, it turns out that Azerbaijan’s technology is so outdated that it cannot notice such flights, or else this story has a political subtext.
“It is bizarre that Azerbaijan behaves in such a hysterical way. The Stepanakert airport did not operate only for a few months in 1992 – planes did not land there. Throughout its existence, over 60 years, the airport has operated without interruption. And we regularly receive helicopters. We have small aviation to operate flights for various purposes including agriculture, cartography, and cadastral surveys,” Babayan said.
According to him, Azerbaijan’s hysteria may be due to Aliyev’s speech in Strasbourg.
“His shameful statements were a blow to Azerbaijan’s image. They took that step to divert the attention of their own public and the international community,” David Babayan noted.
He stressed that Aliyev’s speech was “yet another phonogram and a political mugham”.
“Aliyev is constantly repeating the same thing because he has nothing new to say. His statements show the true face of his state. It is no use commenting on this political mugham,” the spokesman for the NKR president said.