23 August Azerbaijani news agency Turan

Iran will not violate Azeri air space again - Azeri official

Commenting on Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi's statement and Tehran's inquiry about the visit of the Turkish air force's squadron to Azerbaijan, the head of foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Executive Staff, Novruz Mammadov, said: "The flight of Turkish aircraft in Baku is not against any third country".

"Azerbaijan is a sovereign country and it has the right to cooperate with any country of the world, particularly Turkey, with which Azerbaijan is expanding its relations on the basis of `one nation - two states' principle," Mammadov said.

Asked whether Turkish aircraft could be used against the Iranian aircraft if they violate Azerbaijan's air space again, Mammadov said that Iran would hardly repeat "such things". Both sides are currently taking measures for "mutual understanding", Mammadov added.

Commenting on [Azerbaijani President] Heydar Aliyev's forthcoming visit to Iran in the middle of September, Mammadov said that the date of the visit would not be changed.