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“At least thirty countries around the world exploit U.S.-made Bell-412 helicopters both in the military and civil aviation,” expert in International Law Suren Sargsyan told Panorama.am when asked to comment on Azerbaijani purchase of Bel-412 helicopters.

Sargsyan earlier questioned on Facebook how the Bell-412 copters produced by American aircraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter reached Baku given the U.S. legislation banning the country to supply arms to a party to conflict. Later, the expert shared the official clarification from the U.S. State Department saying Bel-412 helicopters are manufactured for civil aviation with virtually no export restrictions from the State Department to countries in conflict.

In Sargsyan’s words, countries exploiting the mentioned copters have more likely been involved in the transaction.

“The American side actually should not be blamed for the matter. The United Stated have sold civil helicopters then buyers have effectively converted them for use by military and transferred to Azerbaijan,” Sargsyan explained, adding the relevantly small size of the copters and advance maneuvering capabilities enable them to be used in subversive operations. 
Asked what the position of Armenia should be toward countries that militarized the helicopters and sold to Azerbaijan, the expert said one option is to send a diplomatic note. However, the matter is complicated with states Armenia has no diplomatic relations, such as Pakistan, Turkey. 

“The list [of countries possessing Bell-412] includes countries that have regularly sold armament to Azerbaijan with Armenia having limited room for taking measures. For example, Israel we have diplomatic relations with, is one of the major arms supplier of Azerbaijan,” Sargsyan said, adding however, the countries that regularly sell weapons to Azerbaijan have always been ready to come up with similar deals with Armenia as well.