Aliyev on Relations with Moscow

We are not responsible for the deterioration of relations. This was stated by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev while discussing relations with Moscow.

“The shooting down of an Azerbaijani civilian aircraft by Russian forces and the reaction of Russian officials to the incident have caused great disappointment and dissatisfaction in Azerbaijan. Firstly, this should not have happened, as they declare a special regime in the case of drone attacks on Russian airports. They signaled after the aircraft was hit. This means that they did it just to mislead those who will conduct the investigation. They hit the aircraft twice. Only the professionalism and courage of the pilots allowed the aircraft to land safely, fortunately in Kazakhstan, rather than in Russia.

During the second Nagorno-Karabakh war, on the last day of the war, November 9, Azerbaijan accidentally shot down a Russian helicopter that had approached the Azerbaijani border, where it should not have been. Because in 30 years, Russian helicopters have never approached the Azerbaijani border from Armenian territory.

We immediately compensated the families of the deceased pilots and the Ministry of Defense. We initiated an investigation, and those who allowed this tragic mistake were held accountable. We have not seen such a thing from Russia. The tragic events of November 9 and our behavior at that time give us grounds to expect the same attitude towards Azerbaijan, after all, the two countries call each other friends. But it was a great surprise. And they still do not say what happened. So, this is certainly a very serious situation in our bilateral relations. But it was not us who wanted the deterioration of those relations,” said Aliyev.