MONITORING (SW) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia on Sunday of firing at an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger jet before it crashed and of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster, demanding that Moscow admit guilt.
Aliyev made the accusation in an interview with state media at Baku airport four days after the AZAL plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people of the 67 people on board, reported Reuters.
Azerbaijani officials have suggested the aircraft was hit by a Russian air defence system as it tried to land in Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Aliyev’s unusually forthright accusation of his country’s traditional ally came a day after he spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A Kremlin statement on the phone call gave no indication that Putin had claimed responsibility for the crash.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin “apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace” in a phone call with Aliyev, adding that Russian air defenses were active at the time but stopped short of admitting fault.
Russian state media TASS reported that Putin and Aliyev had another call on Sunday, but did not offer any more information on the conversation.
