Artsakh Determined to Open Stepanakert Airport for ‘People’s Right to Free Movement’

Stepanakert Airport (Source: Armenpress)

STEPANAKERT (ARMENPRESS)—Head of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s government civil aviation agency said he is optimistic that flights from Stepanakert’s airport will take off in the future, but refrained from commenting on specific dates.

In discussing the airport with journalists on Tuesday, Dmitry Atbashyan emphasized that delays in opening the airport were purely political.

“Azerbaijan constantly voiced threats that they would strike plane[s],” Atbashyan said, saying that the airport was ready to transport civilians despite the threats.

According to Atbashyan, Stepanakert’s airport has certain equipment that even Baku and Yerevan do not have, noting that the equipment, which was not specified, even surprised French senators who were in Karabakh earlier this year.

Atbashyan emphasized that people have the right to free movement, and that their freedom should not have any connection with the status of the territory they lived in. If the people of Azerbaijan have that right, why does it not apply to the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, he asked.