Aliyev: Russia must pay compensation for the downed plane

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has issued a statement regarding the passenger plane downed by Russia. In his statement, Aliyev declared that Russia must pay compensation to Azerbaijan. 

Aliyev further explained that the passenger plane, which crashed within the borders of Kazakhstan, had sustained heavy damage from ground fire while in Russian airspace, rendering it uncontrollable.

The full statement from Azerbaijan is as follows: 

"We have clearly expressed and officially conveyed our demands to the Russian side. First of all, the Russian side needed to apologize to Azerbaijan. Secondly, it must admit its guilt. Thirdly, it must punish the perpetrators, hold them criminally liable, and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state as well as to the injured passengers and crew. These are our conditions. The first of these was already met yesterday. I hope our other conditions will also be accepted. All these conditions are fair. There is no extraordinary requirement or issue here; they are based on international experience and normal human conduct. I hope our conditions are accepted."

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Embraer 190 type aircraft belonging to AZAL, which was on a Baku-Grozny flight, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on December 25.

38 people lost their lives in the accident, and 29 people survived.

AZAL had announced that the plane crashed as a result of external physical and technical interference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev by phone and apologized for the "tragic incident" in which the AZAL plane was downed, noting that it "occurred in Russian airspace."

News Source: 12punto