The shooting down of a Nagorno-Karabakh helicopter was a political decision on Azerbaijan's part, hero of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Maj. Gen. Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan told journalists on Saturday.
"By such actions the Azeris are trying to keep Armenia on tenterhooks in hope that it will agree to concessions," Ter-Tadevosyan said.
To remind, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The NKR State Committee for POWs, Captives and the Missing has requested the ICRC assistance in returning the crewmembers of the downed helicopter. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.