The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) handed Armenian General Department of Civil Aviation a letter from head of the Azerbaijani aviation department which says Baku is ready to crash planes flying to Karabakh if authorities open Stepanakert airport.

“It is unusual that such an issue is raised by head of civil aviation department,” Artyom Movisisyan, head of Armenian civil aviation department, told journalists on Monday.

Civil aviation must not deal with politics, but establishment of relations, he said. According to Movsisyan, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is not operating flights not because it is afraid of it.  NKR is a very disciplined country and flights will not be operated unless security standards are ensured. “The NKR leadership has solved all the problems over 3 years,” he added.

He also noted that calls to renounce violence are voiced in Azerbaijani parliament. They raise issue on killing of children in the line of contact but on the other hand call for violence directly.

“A child, an old man, civilians will be in the same plane flying with good intentions. It turns out that on the one hand they say no to violence, but on the other they are ready for it,” Movsisyan stressed adding the issue would be raised in the ICAO.

Earlier chief of NKR civil aviation department Dmitry Adbashyan responded to Azerbaijani statement, noting “if Azerbaijan considers itself a civilized country, it must not make such statements”.

Many world states and members of the International Civil Aviation Organization, including Armenia and Azerbaijan, took on commitment never shoot down civilian aircrafts.