Political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said that the wish to shoot down civilian aircrafts is rather within Azerbaijan’s mentality.

Azerbaijan made attempts to shoot down Armenian aircrafts in 1992 and 1994, Shahnazaryan told a press conference in Yerevan in his comments on Baku’s statements that it “will shoot down aircrafts flying to Stepanakert airport, which is planned to be opened in May 2011.”

However, according Shahnazaryan, Azerbaijan’s similar actions were left unpunished.

“We should spare no effort so that Azerbaijan understands that any encroachment on Armenia’s citizens will be punished,” the Armenian expert said.

Melik-Shahnazaryan hailed the Armenian public’s reaction to Baku’s statements on elimination of Stepanakert-bound aircrafts, saying that the number of people who want to fly from Yerevan to Stepanakert is growing in response to the Azerbaijani threats.

“With this, they want to show that not a threat can affect our mentality,” concluded Melik-Shahnazaryan.