Azerbaijan demands Moscow admit to shooting at plane
President Ilham Aliyev demands admission, apology, compensation and punishment for those responsible
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President Ilham Aliyev demands admission, apology, compensation and punishment for those responsible
BAKU (AFP) — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday demanded that Russia admit that it fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed, accusing Moscow of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster.
Aliyev made the accusation in an interview to state media at Baku airport four days after the AZAL Embraer 190 plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Azerbaijani officials have suggested that the aircraft was hit by a Russian air-defense system as it tried to land in Grozny, capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
The transport ministry in Kazakhstan on Sunday said that the aeroplane’s black box would be sent for analysis to Brazil, which manufactures the Embraer plane.
Aliyev’s unusually forthright accusation of his country’s traditional ally came a day after he spoke by telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A Kremlin statement about the phone call gave no indication that Putin had claimed responsibility for the crash.
“The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control,” Aliyev told state television.
“We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control... At the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged,” he said.
Aliyev said that while “our plane was hit by accident,” Baku was angry that Moscow had apparently tried to hide the cause of the crash and demanded its ally admit responsibility.
He said it was “regrettable and surprising” that Moscow “put forward theories” that, he said, “clearly showed the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue.”
“For the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except some absurd theories,” he said, adding that these included the plane hitting a flock of birds.
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