Civilnet.am: The bodies of the three Armenian pilots, who were killed after their helicopter was shot down near the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact were retrieved following a special military operation by the Nagnorno Karabakh Defense Army forces late last night.
A statement by the NKR Defense Ministry reads: “Taking into consideration the official statements and lack of rationale by Azerbaijan, the armed forces of the NKR Defense Army were obligated to undertake special military operations to clarify the fate of the crew of the helicopter that was shot down by the adversary on November 12.” The statement went on to say that as a result of the operation, the remains of the crew were retrieved, as were specific parts of the helicopter and in the process two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed. The Armenian side did not suffer any losses during the operation.
The unarmed helicopter of the NKR Defense Army was performing military drills near the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact on November 12 when it was shot down by Azerbaijani armed forces killing the three pilots on board.
On November 13, the government of Nagorno Karabakh applied to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Stepanakert asking that the organization mediate to ensure the repatriation of the bodies of the pilots. On November 18, Baku said that they will return the bodies only when they deem it necessary.
Also on November 18, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk met with the leadership of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic about the incident. It was planned that Kasprzyk would be allowed to go to the helicopter crash site, however monitoring of the Line of Contact took place at a predetermined location which was 10-12 kilometers from the actual site.
During an interview on Karabakh’s public television, Kasprzyk noted that Baku was unwilling to provide security guarantees to carry out the monitoring at the crash site. Kasprzyk said that he will continue efforts to ensure this happens. On November 19, Kasprzyk met with Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and on November 20, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs issued another statement regarding the incident: “In the spirit of the Astrakhan statement of October 2010 between the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, the Co-Chairs urge Azerbaijan to permit the recovery of the bodies of the victims, and Armenia to cooperate fully with all efforts to resolve this humanitarian situation.”
