(A.W.)—Following news of the downing of an Artsakh Mi-24 helicopter by Azeri forces, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs—Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, James Warlick of the U.S., and Pierre Andrieu of France—expressed “serious concern” over the attack.
“We regret the loss of life and express our condolences to the families,” noted the Co-Chairs in the statement, and added an appeal to both countries “to avoid steps that would escalate tension along the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border.”
“We remind the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan of their responsibilities to respect the ceasefire and honour the commitments they made in Sochi, Newport, and Paris to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” added the Co-Chairs.
Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian was critical of the Minsk Group statement, as it places “equal blame” on both sides. “While the Minsk Group Co-Chairs appear to appreciate the gravity of Azerbaijan’s aggression—as reflected in their welcome expression of ‘serious concern’ over Baku’s fatal attack on this helicopter—the OSCE’s public response once again falls back into the deeply flawed pattern of placing equal blame on both sides for hostility that all the world knows is being directed by one man, Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan,” he said.
Hamparian also urged the White House to issue a “forceful” condemnation of the attack. “The Obama Administration must forcefully condemn Azerbaijan’s downing of an unarmed helicopter flying over Nagorno Karabagh, cut off all military aid to Baku and scale back bilateral contacts until President Aliyev ceases his aggression against Artsakh and Armenia,” said Hamparian.
“Our White House needs to give up on the long-ago discredited idea that there is some sort of parity between the parties. The facts are clear, and should guide U.S. policy: Artsakh is a democracy offering its hand in peace; Azerbaijan is a dictatorship escalating its anti-Armenian aggression. America should stand on the side of peace and democracy,” added Hamparian.
Similarly, Rep. Adam Schiff issued a statement condemning the attack. “The apparent shootdown of an unarmed helicopter over the territory of the NKR, demonstrates Azerbaijan’s callous disregard for human life and its willingness to engage in provocative acts of violence to distract from its domestic problems,” said Rep. Schiff. “This horrendous conduct threatens to destabilize the entire region.”
Azerbaijani Armed Forces shot down an Artsakh Air Force Mi-24 helicopter on a training flight on Nov. 12. The helicopter was engaged in military training exercises near the contact line. The incident took place at 1:45 p.m. local time, the press service of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR) Defense Ministry reported earlier in the day.
“Today, at 13:45, an Mi-24 helicopter was shot down in the eastern airspace [of NKR], near the Karabagh-Azerbaijani border, by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces—a ceasefire violation. The area where the helicopter was shot is very close to the Line of Contact. The enemy continues to fire intensively, with weapons of various caliber, at the area where the incident took place,” the NKR Defense Ministry said in a statement.
According to a source in Artsakh, three members of the Artsakh Air Force were killed in the attack.
The training flight was part of joint Armenia-Artsakh military drills in the area. The “Unity 2014” exercises involved over 30,000 troops, 3,000 armored vehicles, artillery, and air defense units, according to the NKR Defense Ministry website.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has claimed that the attack was a defense maneuver. “On November 12 at about 1:45 pm, the Mi-24 helicopter of the Armenian Armed Forces flying 1700 meters north-east of Kangarli village of Aghdam region attacked the Azerbaijani positions. The enemy helicopter was shot down with return fire,” reported the Azeri APA news agency, which had received a statement from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
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