1991 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown

Aviation accidentthe 1992 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown 1991 Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter shootdown Shootdown Mi-8 Hip Roving Sands 99.jpg 250px A Mil Mi-8 similar to the aircraft shot down November 20, 1991 Shootdown Mil Mi-8 72 Aghdam Martuni Berdashen (Karakend), Azerbaijan (de jure) Armenia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de facto) 22 0 On November 20, 1991, an Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 military helicopter, carrying a peacekeeping mission team consisting of 13 Azerbaijani government officials, two Russian and one Kazakhstani Ministry of Internal Affairs officials, three Azerbaijani journalists and three helicopter crew was shot down amidst heavy fighting near the village of Berdashen, also known as Karakend, in Nagorno-Karabakh. http://www.kommersant.ru/doc-rss.aspx?DocsID=1595 Республики. В Азербайджане сбит вертолет с VIP на борту Republics. A helicopter with VIP on board has been shot down in Azerbaijan. Kommersant Roman Glebov 1991-11-25 2010-04-14 ruCentral Asia Meets Middle East Menashri David 1998 Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. London, Great Britain 0-7146-4600-8 155 https://books.google.com/books?id=JnZ1zOcjOPkC&pg=PA155 All 22 people (19 passengers and three crew) on board were killed in the crash.http://www.azerbaijanfoundation.az/eng/factsarts/210-17-year-passes-since-mi-8-military.html Azerbaijan Association. 17 year passes since "Mi-8" military helicopter was shot in Garakand sky – complete list of the perished people November 21, 2008 April 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20110706130732/http://www.azerbaijanfoundation.az/eng/factsarts/210-17-year-passes-since-mi-8-military.html 2011-07-06 dead The incident is known in Azerbaijan as the ''Karakend tragedy''.Qarakənd faciəsi – 30 il – Xəbərlər – ŞUŞA RAYON Icra Hakimiyyəti http://www.shusha-ih.gov.az/news/841.html 2022-06-03 www.shusha-ih.gov.az Background In accordance with the Zheleznovodsk communique initiated by Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Russian city of Zheleznovodsk for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and their subsequent shuttle diplomacy visit to the region in September 1991, officials from Russia and Kazakhstan were placed in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) for an observation mission. On the eve of the crash, the Armenian side ceased the peace talks with Azerbaijan until Azerbaijan re-opened the natural gas supply to Armenia, which it had cut off on November 4.Stopping Wars and Making Peace: Studies in International Intervention Eichensehr Kristen Reisman W.Michael 1998 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Leiden, The Netherlands 978-90-04-17855-7 55 https://books.google.com/books?id=tjcSb5Yw2_UC&pg=PA55 The team of observers along with representatives of Azerbaijani government were to fly from Aghdam to Martuni due to rising tension in the district. Shootdown The helicopter MI-8 with the observation team departed from Aghdam on 20 November 1991 with 22 people on board and was shot down en route with a group of ZSU-23-4 Shilka and SA-6 missiles, killing everyone on board.Croissant Michael P. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZeP7OZZswtcC&pg=PA45 The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: causes and implications Praeger Publishers 1998 0-275-96241-5 Westport, CT 45 The attack on the helicopter disrupted the ongoing peace talks. https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/russian/news/newsid_3681000/3681079.stm ru:Карабах: хронология конфликта Karabakh: Chronology of the conflict BBC News 2005-08-29 2010-04-14 ruhttp://www.peacekeeper.ru/index.php?id=16 Peacekeeper.ru ru:Хронология событий в конфликтных точках СНГ Chronology of events in conflict spots of CIS April 14, 2010 ru Various conspiracy theories about the incident have since been in circulation, and are promoted by various political figures in Azerbaijan, who claim that the shootdown was a political assassination. Despite an absence of official investigation evidence, such theories are considered credible by a significant part of the Azerbaijani population. List of victimshttp://www.mns.gov.az/terroractspart3_ru.html ru:Террористические акты, совершенные на воздушных судах Terror acts committed on air transport April 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100502080429/http://www.mns.gov.az/terroractspart3_ru.html 2 May 2010 dead ruhttps://apa.az/en/nagorno_garabagh/xeber_23_years_have_passed_since_armenians_sho_-219218 23 years have passed since Armenians shot down military helicopter with Azerbaijani political elite on board November 3, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201103130446/https://apa.az/en/nagorno_garabagh/xeber_23_years_have_passed_since_armenians_sho_-219218 November 3, 2020 Full namePositionCountryTofig IsmayilovSecretary of StateAzerbaijanIsmat GayibovPublic Prosecutor GeneralAzerbaijanMahammad AsadovMinister of Internal Affairs, State AdvisorAzerbaijanZulfi HajiyevDeputy Prime MinisterAzerbaijanOsman MirzayevPress Secretary of the President of Azerbaijan, journalistAzerbaijanAli MustafayevJournalist of Azerbaijani State TV,July 31, 2008 International Eurasia Press Fund. 5 journalists were killed in 1991 http://en.iepf-ngo.org/?page_id=30 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110726171246/http://en.iepf-ngo.org/?page_id=30 2011-07-26 April 14, 2010 AzerbaijanAzerbaijanVagif JafarovMember of ParliamentAzerbaijansup Vali Mammadov ru Мамедов, Вели Гусейн оглыMember of ParliamentAzerbaijanIgor PlavskiPublic Prosecutor of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO)AzerbaijanSaylau SerikovDeputy Minister of Internal AffairsKazakhstan 1991Fakhraddin ShahbazovCameraman, Azerbaijani State TVAzerbaijanArif HuseynzadehLights technician, Azerbaijani State TVAzerbaijanRafig MammadovAide to Secretary of StateAzerbaijanSergey IvanovHead of department of National Security Ministry, NKAOAzerbaijansup Nikolai Zhinkin ru Жинкин, Николай ВладимировичCommandant for Emergency Situations of NKAOAzerbaijanMikhail LukashovMajor General, MVDRussia 1991Oleg KocherevLieutenant Colonel, MVDRussia 1991Vladimir KovalyovHead of Ministry of Internal Affairs of NKAOAzerbaijansup Gurban Namazaliyev az Qurban NamazəliyevDeputy Prime Minister of Amelioration and Water ManagementAzerbaijanVyacheslav KotovCommander of helicopter crewAzerbaijanGennadiy DomovMember of the helicopter crewAzerbaijanDmitry YarovenkoMember of the helicopter crewAzerbaijan Investigation Initial reports by central state agency TASS claimed the helicopter flew into fog and crashed into a hill. On November 21, the chairman of the crash investigation committee announced over TV that the helicopter was shot at by large caliber weapons and the weapons and video equipment were stolen from the site of the incident. At 6:30 PM, the same day, the deputy Chief of Command of Internal Troops of the Ministry for Internal Affairs of USSR, Vyacheslav Ponomarev left for Aghdam. The Interior Ministry officials declared they would not withdraw the internal troop detachments from the district due to escalation of the conflict. The investigation committee was also to determine where the victims would be buried. However, because the area of the crash was soon captured by Armenian militants, the investigation was suspended and no one was indicted. http://news.trend.az/print.shtml?newsid=1349529&lang=en https://archive.today/20120715034808/http://news.trend.az/print.shtml?newsid=1349529&lang=en dead 2012-07-15 Investigation into Crash of Helicopter with Azerbaijani Senior Officials Suspended Trend News Agency K. Zarbaliyeva 2008-11-19 2010-04-14 The investigation was initiated for clarifying the reasons for the crash. The first version was transferred by TASS referring to the commander's special area of NKAO: helicopter exploded, sprung upon a rock in the fog. However, an investigation found holes in the fuselage consistent with the explosion of a rocket.The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict: causes and implications Croissant Michael P. 1998 Praeger Publishers Westport, CT 0-275-96241-5 55 registration https://archive.org/details/armeniaazerbaija00croi/page/55 Investigation Commission Chairman Adil Agayev said that the helicopter was shot down from the ground by a large-caliber weapon, video equipment and weapons from the crash site were removed. Armenians denied any involvement, although they were blamed immediately for the incident. In response to Agayev the deputies of the USSR from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Zori Balayan, Victor Hambardzumyan, Henrik Igityan, Sos Sargsyan accused Central television of bias and hinted at the uninvolvement of Armenians in the crash. According to American researcher Michael P. Croissant, it appeared to be an Armenian rocket attack. Aftermath After the public burial of the Azerbaijani victims in Baku on November 22, demonstrations began. The protestors demanded the Supreme Soviet and the chairman of Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Ayaz Mutalibov, to establish authority in Karabakh or resign from office. As a result, the Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet called a special session on November 26 requesting the imposition of martial law in the republic, withdrawing cadets and officers of Azerbaijani ethnicity from the Soviet Army and ceasing all negotiations with Armenia. On November 27, the Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet voted in favour of abolishing the autonomous status of NKAO and established direct rule over it. It also officially changed the name of Stepanakert to its pre-Soviet name, Khankendi, and re-arranged administrative division of the rayons in Nagorno-Karabakh area. See also Azerbaijan Russia Aviation List of aircraft shootdowns during the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict External links My father's helicopter was shot down References 40 23 N 49 50 E title Mil Mi-8 shootdown 1991 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown 1991 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown 1991 Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Azerbaijan Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown 1991 Category:Military operations of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War Category:November 1991 in Asia Category:Aircraft shootdown incidents in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict