STEPANAKERT. – Head of the Civil Aviation Department at Nagorno-Karabakh government Dmitry Atbashyan does not understand how Azerbaijanis can realize the threat “to land jets” flying to Stepanakert.

Commenting for Armenian News-NEWS.am on the statement by “the head of Azerbaijani community of Karabakh” Bayram Safarov, he stressed the threat “is far from being realized.”

Various representatives of Azerbaijan have recently voiced threats to shoot aircrafts flying to Stepanakert.

Regarding threats to shoot planes, he said that Azerbaijan joined the international convention preventing to shoot civil jets.

Atbashyan said that any state has the right to land aircrafts in its air territory if there is confidence that plane is carrying banned cargo.

 “In case Nagorno-Karabakh, this right is out of question. The jet heading from Yerevan to Stepanakert is flying through Armenia’s air territory till Goris city, which is not controlled by Azerbaijan. Afterwards, jets enter the territory in fact not controlled by Azerbaijan but almost controlled by Karabakh. I cannot imagine how Mr. Safarov is going to realize his ‘theoretical right’ in the territory of Karabakh,” Atbashyan concluded.