Azerbaijani President blames Russia for shooting plane that crashed in Kazakhstan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday said that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, which saw 38 people dead was damaged due to a shooting from the ground in Russia, reports Azertac. Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has officially communicated its demands to Moscow. In an interview with Azerbaijan Television, Aliyev said, "The fact that the fuselage is riddled with holes indicates that the theory of the plane hitting a flock of birds, which was brought up by someone, is completely removed from the agenda" 

Accusing Russia of trying to cover up the issue, the



Azerbaijani President said, "Another regrettable and surprising moment for us was that official Russian agencies put forward theories about the explosion of some gas cylinder on board the plane. In other words, this clearly showed that the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue, which, of course, is unbecoming of anyone." 

The Azerbaijan State News Agency quotes Aliyev saying that the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan and punish those who are responsible, further adding that compensation must be paid to the Azerbaijani state, as well as to the injured passengers and crew members.