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EURASIANET: SHOOTING DOWN A CIVILIAN FLIGHT OF STEPANAKERT AIRPORT WILL BE CATASTROPHIC FOR BAKU'S INTERNATIONAL POSITION
http://times.am/?l=en&p=16699
Eurasianet.org web-site referred to the Azerbaijani threats over the
Stepanakert airport. The article by Joshua Kucera especially says:
"When Azerbaijan threatened in 2011 to shoot down flights to the newly
built airport in Nagorno Karabakh, swift international condemnation
forced them to back down. Now, with the long-delayed airport apparently
close to opening, Baku has reiterated those threats".
The Armenian authorities hope that the establishment of flights in
and out of the self-proclaimed republic will help mitigate their
isolation; it's now only possible to reach the territory by a long
drive through the mountains from Armenia, teh source continues.
"The language from this unnamed official is a bit more guarded than
the last time, when Azerbaijani officials used words like "destroy"
and "annihilate" in reference to flights to Karabakh. And probably
more importantly, it wasn't made publicly, so there hasn't been the
same sort of reaction internationally. But the message is obviously
the same. And the threat still seems just as empty: although the U.S.
ambassador to Baku recently reiterated that the opening of the airport
would be "not helpful," shooting down a civilian flight, it should go
without saying, would be catastrophic for Baku's international position
and whatever intimidation it would accomplish against Armenia would
be vastly outweighed by its becoming an international pariah. So it's
not clear what they're trying to accomplish with even these sorts of
veiled threats", the article concludes.
09.01.13, 16:19
http://times.am/?l=en&p=16699
Eurasianet.org web-site referred to the Azerbaijani threats over the
Stepanakert airport. The article by Joshua Kucera especially says:
"When Azerbaijan threatened in 2011 to shoot down flights to the newly
built airport in Nagorno Karabakh, swift international condemnation
forced them to back down. Now, with the long-delayed airport apparently
close to opening, Baku has reiterated those threats".
The Armenian authorities hope that the establishment of flights in
and out of the self-proclaimed republic will help mitigate their
isolation; it's now only possible to reach the territory by a long
drive through the mountains from Armenia, teh source continues.
"The language from this unnamed official is a bit more guarded than
the last time, when Azerbaijani officials used words like "destroy"
and "annihilate" in reference to flights to Karabakh. And probably
more importantly, it wasn't made publicly, so there hasn't been the
same sort of reaction internationally. But the message is obviously
the same. And the threat still seems just as empty: although the U.S.
ambassador to Baku recently reiterated that the opening of the airport
would be "not helpful," shooting down a civilian flight, it should go
without saying, would be catastrophic for Baku's international position
and whatever intimidation it would accomplish against Armenia would
be vastly outweighed by its becoming an international pariah. So it's
not clear what they're trying to accomplish with even these sorts of
veiled threats", the article concludes.
09.01.13, 16:19