Baku Demands Moscow Admit Guilt, Punish Those Responsible for AZAL Plane Crash

Russian, Azerbaijani presidents hold telephone conversation on Aktau plane crash

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

BAKU, December 29. /TASS/. The Azerbaijani authorities have handed over to the Russian side the demands on admitting guilt for the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane near Kazakhstan's Aktau, punishing those responsible for the incident and paying compensation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with the state-run AzTV channel.

"We have clearly communicated our demands to the Russian side, they were handed over already on December 27. What were they? First, the Russian side should apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, to admit its guilt. Thirdly, to punish the guilty, to hold them criminally responsible and to pay compensation both to the state and to the injured passengers and crew members. These are our conditions. The first of them was fulfilled yesterday. I hope that the rest of our demands will also be met," Aliyev said.

Russian, Azerbaijani presidents hold telephone conversation on Aktau plane crash

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev have continued to discuss the situation surrounding the plane crash near Kazakhstan's Aktau by phone, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"In today’s telephone conversation, Putin and Aliyev continued to discuss various issues related to the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane," he pointed out.