Apologies are not enough, Russia must punish those responsible for the crash of the AZAL plane and pay compensation - Ilham Aliyev

President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to the state television of Azerbaijan today, in which he outlined the position of the Azerbaijani side on the causes of the crash of the AZAL plane, which was flying from Baku to Grozny. He placed responsibility for the plane crash on the Russian side and voiced Baku's demands to it.

Aliyev stressed that the "final version" of the plane crash will be known after the opening of the black boxes.

"But the initial versions are also quite reasonable and based on facts. And the facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from outside on the territory of Russia, near the city of Grozny, and practically lost control. We also know that our plane was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. This is the first damage inflicted on the plane. At the same time, as a result of fire opened from the ground, the tail section of the plane was also badly damaged," Aliyev said.

According to him, the fact that "the fuselage was full of holes" disproves the "initially thrown in" version about a "collision with a flock of birds".

"It is possible that when the plane was damaged, when it was hit, the pilot could have perceived it as a collision of birds with the plane. Because, probably, it would never have occurred to anyone that our plane would be fired upon from the ground in a country friendly to us. However, unfortunately, some circles in Russia preferred to adhere to this version. One of the things that upset and surprised us was that official Russian structures put forward versions about the explosion of some gas cylinder. That is, this openly showed that the Russian side wanted to hush up the issue, and this, of course, does not do credit to anyone. Of course, our plane was shot down by accident. Of course, there can be no talk of some kind of deliberate terrorist act here. Therefore, admitting guilt, promptly apologizing to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and communicating this to the public - all these were the measures and steps that needed to be taken. Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except crazy versions,” Aliyev further noted.

He emphasized that from the first day Azerbaijan advocated for a group of international experts to investigate the case. “The Russian side officially proposed to us that the Interstate Aviation Committee investigate this case. We categorically refused this. And the reason is clear. Because it is no secret that this structure mainly consists of Russian officials and is headed by Russian citizens. The factors of objectivity here may not have been fully ensured. If we had seen fair and adequate steps from Russia immediately after the crash, then perhaps we would not have objected. But we saw that there are obvious attempts to hush up this issue,” Aliyev emphasized.

He believes that the investigation will clarify many points that raise questions.

"For example, why couldn't the plane land in Grozny? To what extent did the electronic warfare systems affect the control of the plane? How effective were the consequences of the air strike and the explosion near the plane? Because I must also note that attempts to deny this obvious fact and disguise it in this case are both absurd and stupid... Many passengers were saved, there are their testimonies. The injuries inflicted on passengers and crew members by shrapnel that pierced the plane are obvious. Attributing this to some birds or presenting it as an explosion of a gas cylinder is stupid and shameless," Aliyev continued.

According to Aliyev, after opening the black boxes, it will become clear why the plane couldn't land? When exactly was fire opened from the ground on the plane? Why didn't the plane try to land at the nearest airports - Mineralnye Vody and Makhachkala? Was the plane sent to Aktau or was it an objective choice (of the crew)?

“There are various versions. Some believe that the plane was deliberately sent by the ground service from Grozny, since it was already out of control and there was a high probability that the aircraft would fall into the sea. In this case, attempts to hush up the issue will be successful, and the so-called “bird” version will be presented as the main one. According to some experts, Aktau was chosen because it is an open space, residential areas are far from the airport, and the crew could assume that it would be an emergency landing, so they chose a more suitable place for it. But on the other hand, having airports nearby, flying a longer distance, and over the sea, when the plane was out of control, was riskier. That is, there is no answer to all these questions yet,” Aliyev continued.
He gratefully noted the actions of the Kazakh side in the rescue operation, medical assistance to the victims, understanding in matters of investigating the causes of the disaster.

Aliyev also said that the suspension of flights to some cities in the Russian Federation is his decision for security purposes, since
in these regions the airspace is periodically closed.

By the way, as Aliyev noted, according to the Azerbaijani side, the "carpet" operation was announced after external influence.

What are Azerbaijan's expectations and demands of Russia in connection with what is happening? Answering this question, Aliyev replied:

"We openly outlined our demands to the Russian side. On December 27, these demands were officially communicated to the Russian side. What were they? Firstly, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Secondly, it must admit its guilt. Thirdly, the perpetrators must be punished, brought to criminal responsibility, and the Azerbaijani state, the affected passengers and crew members must be paid compensation. These are our conditions. The first of them was already fulfilled yesterday. (On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Ilham Aliyev and apologized for the fact that the incident occurred in Russian airspace, Turan note). I hope that our other conditions will be accepted as well. All these conditions are fair. There are no extraordinary demands or questions here, this is based on international experience and normal human behavior," Aliyev emphasized.