Arab media focuses on president Aliyev’s statement on AZAL plane crash causes PHOTO

Statements by President Ilham Aliyev on the causes of the AZAL plane crash have been the focus of attention in Arab media.

News coverage provided by channels such as Sky News Arabia, Al-Arabiya, Al-Jazeera, Al-Qahira News, Al-Hurra, MTV Lebanon, Al-Arabi, as well as publications and news agencies including Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Al-Sharq, Al-Ahram, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Riyadh, Al-Quds, and Al-Youm, highlights the President’s statement, Caliber.Az reports.

He stated that the passenger plane was brought into an uncontrollable state by electronic warfare systems over Russian territory, with the tail section of the aircraft being damaged due to ground fire.

The reports quote President Ilham Aliyev’s words: "The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian aircraft sustained external damage in Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and nearly lost control. We also know that our plane was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare systems. This was the first damage inflicted on the plane. At the same time, the tail section of the aircraft was severely damaged as a result of ground fire," he said.

The news also notes that President Ilham Aliyev does not believe the incident was intentional, and that Azerbaijan has three expectations from Russia regarding the incident.

The publications further highlight that on December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a telephone conversation with President Ilham Aliyev, apologized for the aviation disaster. The reports also underscore that the presidents of the two countries continued their discussion of the plane crash during the call.

To recap, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 crashed near Kazakhstan's Aktau on December 25, after diverting from southern Russia, which was under attack by Ukrainian drones. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev