The Azerbaijani leader, who is close to Putin, has issued rare fierce criticism of Moscow over the crash, demanding an apology, admission of guilt and the punishment of those found responsible for the “criminal” shooting of the plane.
On Monday he said Russia’s “concealment” of the causes and “delusional versions” being put forward “cause us justifiable anger”.
Initial statements by Russia’s air transport agency that the plane had been forced to divert after a bird strike have triggered fury in Baku.
Aliyev said air defence measures for Grozny – the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, where the plane was set to land – were only announced after the plane had been “shot from the ground”.
“If there was a danger to Russian airspace, then the captain of the plane should have been informed straight away,” Aliyev said.
He also questioned why the plane was sent hundreds of kilometres across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh city of Aktau for an emergency landing.
“Why it was directed to Aktau, we have no information,” Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan says preliminary results of its investigation show the plane was hit accidentally by a Russian air defence missile.
Russia has opened its own criminal probe but has not said whether it agrees with Baku’s assessment.
The plane’s black boxes have been sent to Brazil for analysis.
Source: CNA
