Official Baku Rebuffs Russian Foreign Ministry

Ayhan Hajizade

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan expressed surprise at the statement by the Russian foreign policy agency regarding the payment of compensation by the Russian side in connection with the crash of an AZAL aircraft on the Baku-Grozny flight.

"The statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on September 4 regarding insurance payments in connection with the crash of an 'Azerbaijan Airlines' (AZAL) plane, shot down as a result of an attack, not only causes surprise but also misleads the public. The insurance payments to AZAL and passengers, made by an insurance company registered in Russia, and the issue of compensation that our country demands from the Russian government in connection with the plane being shot down, are completely different topics," said Aykhan Hajizade, a spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The payments that the Russian side is talking about are made exclusively within the framework of the AZAL insurance contract and are the fulfillment of obligations arising from the insurance of the aircraft and passengers.

"Regarding the fact that the payments are made by a Russian insurance company, we note: aircraft insurance is usually carried out through appropriate international insurance companies. However, given that international insurance companies do not operate on the territory of Russia, the AZAL aircraft was insured through a Russian company. Thus, attempts to equate insurance payments with the demand for compensation made by Azerbaijan to the Russian government are incorrect," Hajizade continued.

Furthermore, he added, the position of the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, who stated that the deterioration of Russian-Azerbaijani relations is allegedly caused by the arrest of 13 Russian citizens in Azerbaijan in July of this year and who put forward a demand for their release as a condition for improving relations, is also erroneous. "It is well known that the tension in Azerbaijani-Russian relations was caused precisely by the crash of the AZAL aircraft, which was shot down as a result of an attack, and the subsequent behavior of Russian officials. An additional source of tension was also the persecution of Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Russia, and the beating and killing of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg. In addition, the activities of various Russian state structures directed against Azerbaijan are also a factor that negatively affects bilateral relations," Hajizade concluded.

On September 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the full insurance amount of 1.003 billion rubles had been paid for the crash of the AZAL aircraft, and 358.4 million rubles had been paid to the injured and relatives of the deceased. It was claimed that the claims for 46 of the 62 passengers, including 35 citizens of Azerbaijan, had been settled, and work on the remaining cases was ongoing.