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Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Movses Hakobyan declined to comment on reports of some Russian media outlets to the effect that while in Moscow, President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan stated about the possibility of Stepanakert airport’s use by Russia for the fight against the Islamic State.

“I don’t comment on statements of officials, especially when they are my superiors,” M. Hakobyan said during a briefing in the Armenian parliament.

According to Russian media, Bako Sahakyan allegedly said: “After Stepanakert airport is put into operation, the authorities of Karabakh are prepared to discuss with Russia the use of that infrastructure”.  Yet the spokesman for Karabakh’s president David Babayan said that Russian media are speculating about statements of Bako Sahakyan.

Earlier, Speaker of the Armenian parliament Galust Sahakyan also said, when commenting on media reports on that subject, that President of Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan did not make any remarks in Moscow that Stepanakert airport could be used in Russia’s fight against the ISIS. ‘Stepanakert airport even lacks the necessary conditions for a military airport. An attempt was just made in the Russian environment - where there is also a struggle between pro-government forces and the opposition  - to form a subject for discussion, while ours allowed themselves to be led by those developments,” he said.